Masters of War
by Ketojan
Summary: The Lone Wanderer has arrived in Boston, hoping to track down an old friend. This proves to be problematic for the Commonwealth's current protector, The Sole Survivor, who's alignments and past decisions create immediate tension between the two. She fears that this man may tear apart everything she holds dear and may convince those closest to her to help him.
1. Traveller

Through the thunderous, radioactive seas, the swamps of the Big Easy and even around the outskirts of the Empire Wasteland, roamed a suit of T-51b Power Armour, slowly striding throughout the wastes...

The man inside was like the suit, beaten and rustic, a relic of great value but still somehow obsolete... The world had moved on without them and soon they would lock up, fuse and become one...

The glowing sea aided this process, the harsh conditions did a real number on the already diminishing paint job, until, eventually, the joints began to stiffen.

Arms, legs, the torso... they all eventually fell off. Like the limbs of a feral ghoul, they had long outlived their use and as they dropped off, they were left in the dirt where they fell. The man they belonged to cared nothing for them...

He just pressed on.

He marched through the night and through the day, taking down anything that stood in his path that threatened his well-being.

This was until he came to a complete stop...

The kneem on the Power Armour's frame, locked up, the rustic suit frame had been going for so long that the knee had completely jammed. His leg had been brought to a complete halt...

His fusion core pulsed, indicating that it was running low on power and he knew that it dying completely would result in him being stuck.

He sighed, heavily, as the suit went into a depressed state and slowly opened itself up to spit its pilot out. Reaching up for his helmet, the traveller sighed heavily as he left the last piece of the Capital Wasteland that he had behind. The feeling of his helmet being torn from his head hurt as he slowly removed it, tossing it down to the ground, where it handed with a thud and sank a little into the dirt.

Slowly stumbling out of its back, he sighed heavily and looked down to the floor, eventually pulling his back back and cracking his shoulders, stretching as he adjusted to not being held up by that suit anymore.

He never had much love for power armour, too restrictive... too... easy.

He slowly rolled the cylinder of his .44 magnum out and took a quick glance at it... he was down to one shot. A shot that he had to make count...

He snapped it shut, making sure that it was cocked and ready before he began his descent, down the small hillside and across the landscape... He could see walls, just up ahead... a community, from the looks of it. He saw one a bit like it earlier, which revolved around a pylon but thought he'd make it further before bothering anybody.

Still, he hadn't much of a choice now...

"Welcome to Sanctuary Hills"

 _Sanctuary... These are always perfect names for bad places..._ He thought to himself as he examined the main gate, dozens of heavy turrets stood, keeping the bridge locked down. The walls made it impossible to run across the river and it looked like the only entrance was across the bridge, past the many automated gun turrets.

This was possibly one of the best defended settlements on the East Coast, which should say a lot of good for this settlement, when actually it said more bad about the other places he'd been. Big Town had a similar set up, minus the turrets and armed guards.

He could see robots hovering about inside, or at least he thought he could as he saw the gate open and a trader step on in. They didn't even attempt to stop or question them, search them, anything like that.

The guards must be looking for something specific...

Deciding that the place looked... decent, the traveller slowly rose out of the bushes, dragging his torn, leather coat out of it as he marched towards it, .44 revolver still in his hand.

He stepped over the rotten corpse of a dog and a naked man, just next to the river. They'd been dead for months, maybe even years... He wondered if they were killed by the settlers here or by natural causes...

Hell, they might have fallen here before the settlement was even erected.

The Wastelander slowly stepped across the bridge, getting the attention of the watchmen, who trained their rifles on him, quickly getting ready to shoot him.

"Woah, hold up stranger!" The woman on the left called, prompting her target to meet her glare.

"Who are you?"

"Bit jumpy aren't you?" The Wastelander asked before looking to her partner.

"I'm Denis, just here to do some trading and rest up... Is that allowed or do I need to take my caps elsewhere?"

This caused them both to fall silent and look to one another, the woman eventually sighed and stepped down.

"I'm getting an Officer, you move and you'll be joining buddy boy over there and his dog! I shot them both on day one, y'know?"

"Huh... There aren't any bullet holes on the corpses." Denis pointed out as he looked around, slowly smirking.

"I guess you missed and buddy boy felt so bad for you, that he keeled over and died on the spot."

"Shut it, wise ass!" The rifleman growled as the woman stepped down, leaving Denis on the bridge, seemingly alone, well, except for the man so politely pointing a gun at him.

The Regulator waited for some time, taking the time to enjoy the view of the water purifiers, which sat in the river. Some great engineering... It was a shame that they didn't have project purity, way out here.

Mind you, looks like they didn't really need it...

The gate eventually opened up, the woman, another man in military gear and finally a third man in a black leather coat, with a green hat stepped out of the town. They seemed to instantly draw their guns on him as if they were ready to execute him, via firing squad.

The man in the black coat stepped forward first, slowly lowering his weapon as he did so... He was a white man, quite pointed facial features, young, very young in fact, to the degree that it was impressive for him to be holding a rank of officer.

Hell, he looked younger than the people he commanded...

He reminded Denis of himself, during better times...

"Sorry about this pal but we've had threats of a Raider assault on the town... can't be too careful, y'know?"

"You're being threatened by Raiders?" Denis asked, immediately picking up on that. Seems to be the case that wherever he went, folks just couldn't leave each-other alone...

"Mmhmm... Used to be more frequent... The Raids, that is but now they're holding back for longer but coming in bigger, more effective waves."

"Hmm... They're getting more strategic?" Denis asked, looking around, he might want to be inside if there was going to be a full out war breaking out here.

"Not exactly... I'd say they're getting more desperate, stragglers from Nuka World have made them better equipped. Still not enough to take us down... Needless to say though, it's suspicious that you turn up today."

"Heh... It is, from your perspective... from mines it's... well, annoying. Given that I've been travelling for hundreds if not thousands of miles and the first settlement I stop at in months is about to be hit by Raiders..." Denis sighed, getting a faint chuckle from the Officer, who seemed to sympathise...

"Where you from? New York? Had a few from down there..."

"DC actually... Set out... Five years ago now, originally went down south but that place... well, I wasn't in the best condition to help it. Thought I'd go north instead." The Regulator explained, with a shrug, getting the Officer to slowly grin.

"I'm from DC myself actually, Lamplight Caverns? Ever been there?"

Denis flinched a little, raising an eyebrow as he thought on it, not that he needed to think about the place but he was trying to imagine the officer as a child...

"Yeah, a few times... I was one of the few adults allowed inside, managed to smooth talk my way in by telling the mayor that his face looked like my butt." Denis recalled, slowly trailing off as it all came back to him.

"You must like having such a good looking butt." The Officer said, giving Denis a broader smirk as Denis' concentration broke and he finally saw the Officer as he was supposed to. Honestly, he wouldn't have guessed. His face... barely resembled what it did when he was a child, he remembered his face being a lot rounder...

"Well, his Mom sure liked it." Denis shrugged, getting MacCready to chuckle to himself and shake his head.

"Well, damn... Didn't think I'd see you, way out here. Heh... Didn't think I'd see anyone really."

"MacCready, is he safe? He isn't... one of **them** is he?"

"Denis? Doubt it... He's..." MacCready paused, glancing back to the Regulator with a faint smile on his face as he tried to think of a way to sum it up.

"He's like Naomi, back where I'm from... I'm willing to vouch for him."

This got a satisfied nod from his fellow guard, who stepped back, allowing Denis to step a little closer as everyone slowly returned to their posts.

"C'mon man, you should get inside before the Raiders hit..." The Officer insisted, gesturing for him to step over to the gate. Denis nodded and holstered his Magnum, trusting MacCready enough not to try and shoot him at this point.

He had that opportunity a minute or two ago...

Denis stepped inside, hearing the gates shut together as he entered the true heart of Sanctuary Hills. He looked around, somewhat amazed as he examined the nearby area, seeing a cafe to his right... or was it a restaurant. Whatever it was, it was impressive to see...

There were dozens of people coming in and out of a building, the ruins of an old house that had also been converted into a place where people could eat. As they approached it, Denis noticed two things to his right. A building with 'Police' plastered on the wall, along with a bunch of warnings to discourage anyone from going near the place and a small shack, next door. Behind them both was a farm, growing every kind of crop Denis had encountered on the east coast...

A bunkhouse of sorts came just after the shack, it looked like some sort of common room. A bit like the one in Megaton, in fact this whole place reminded him of Megaton. Truly, this 'Naomi,' someone who MacCready mentioned at the gate, presuming she's the mastermind behind all of this, truly she could get results if she put her mind to something.

"It's not entirely up to snuff." MacCready admitted, with a sigh as he turned back to Denis, who hardly looked like he was listening. He was too busy observing his surroundings, keeping his gaze fixed on the buildings above.

However, to MacCready's surprise, he seemed to respond, quite quickly.

"Heh, I think you've been away from the Capital Wasteland for too long. This place is a masterpiece! How many people live here?" Denis asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

"Oh… Somewhere between 30 and 50." The Former Lamplighter shrugged.

"It changes daily, some people are just passing through but we get a lot of settlers here." As he spoke, two children in rather scruffy attire ran past them both, laughing as they tried to grab one another. He hadn't seen wasteland children play before, normally that was a privilege saved for Vault Dwellers or Children fortunate to be born in some other form of isolation.

"Hey, Penaswela!" MacCready called as he wandered up to some sort of workshop. The workshop had a number of workbenches, a campfire of sorts; with tables and chairs around it and a number of tools, spare arts and mechanical items scattered along the floor. In the background, modifying a rifle was a guy in old, holey denim overalls with a lot of crazy addons attached to his head.

As Denis got in closer to this 'Penaswela' he saw a young, blonde man sat on a blue steel chair. Despite only being in his thirties, he seemed to be missing a leg as his second trouser leg was mostly empty and there didn't seem to be shoe poking out of the base of his leg. He didn't seem to be dressed like the other salvagers, simply wearing a t-shirt and jeans, though they were both tight fits and could easily have armour worn over them.

"How's the salvage?" MacCready continued to ask, getting Denis' attention as he noticed someone kneeling down by some sort of scrap metal made counter and heat up the side panel with a blow torch. They were wearing a long, brown, leather coat and a hood, with a green gas mask attached to it. From what he could tell, this was some sort of salvaging, perhaps R&D station.

"Oh, it's good! Some guy hit a gold mine, mechanically speaking." Penaswela began, adjusting himself on his seat.

"Turns out an institute supply got ambushed and completely wiped out. Dunno why but nobody looted it before us."

"Heh, sounds like a lucky find." Robert MacCready grinned, placing his rifle on his shoulders.

"Hey erm… You not using that leg, I got you?"

"Oh… That." Penaswela grumbled as he placed his hand on, what would be, his knee.

"Erm… Harold ran off with it again. Dunno what's up with that dog but he thinks my fake leg is his own personal chew toy." The Salvager grumbled sighing heavily as he leant back in his chair.

"I could get an APB out on that Dog, get him brought in, dead or alive." MacCready 'suggested,' with a knowing grin.

"I am tempted but you got enough on your plate, without worrying about my leg. It'll turn up eventually, with a few teeth marks in it." Penaswela shrugged, getting a nod from Robert as he turned back to Denis.

"Sorry, I should get going, this guy's got a lot more to see yet." He said, quickly turning his attention back to the Scavenger.

"Talk later, yeah?"

"You got it." Penaswela shrugged, sitting back in his chair, with a seemingly effortless smile as the two duster sporting wastelanders walked away.

"MacCready, was that… a friend?" Denis asked, seeming shocked by the concept of MacCready having friends.

"Ha! Yeah, I guess it was." Robert chuckled, shaking his head, with a grin.

"Well, more of a co-worker. Don't know him well enough to call him that but Naomi? Cait? Hancock? Best friends I've ever had."

"It's just hard to picture that kid with the foul mouth and a bucket on his head being so… friendly with folks, I guess." Denis admitted, with a shrug.

"That kid with the bucket on his head grew up, Denis. Has a kid of his own, in fact."

"What?" Denis asked, seeming genuinely surprised by this. His smile betrayed his attempt to remain emotionally ambiguous.

"No way, what's his name?"

"Duncan. He's back in the Capital Wasteland, though given how things are there, I'm hoping to get him up here as soon as I can."

"I haven't been there in nearly ten years but… From what I've heard, it's not exactly gotten better since I left." Denis admitted, with a sigh.

"Course, you held that place together for a while. From what I hear, the Brotherhood lost control and the Sheriff of Megaton is the people's last best hope for a life free of martial law… and those are in the civilized bits." MacCready sighed, looking around.

"They say you were exiled from Megaton… That why you left?" He asked as he came to a stop, outside of the clinic.

Denis merely nodded, glancing down to the floor…

"Yeah erm… Hamilton more or less made sure to do a number on the place before we finished him. I don't exactly regret anything, not anymore… Though Hardin was right, I'm not really a good protector, the Capital Wasteland has evolved, it doesn't need me anymore."

"That what you think?" MacCready asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Or is that what you tell yourself?"

"In this case?" Denis began, sounding like he wasn't sure himself.

"I'm telling myself what to think…" He looked over to the clinic before turning his attentions back to MacCready.

"We haven't stopped here by accident, have we?"

"Heh… No…" The Lamplighter admitted, with a faint chuckle as a Brahmin trod past, the many wares on its back rattled and jangled as it went.

"I think you should get a check-up."

"Pfft… What're you, my Dad?" Denis scoffed, looking away.

"I'm a Doctor myself, I know…"

"That Doctors make the worst patients?" Robert asked, with a faint chuckle.

"I know that you're the kind of guy who would say that he's fine, even if he was in a burning building."

"Course I would, got a fire to keep my warm and the structural integrity will hold out for at least an hour." Denis shrugged in agreement, getting his fellow Capital Wastelander to shake his head, with a grin.

"Denis? Doctor. Check up. Now."

The Lone Wanderer sighed, in truth, he could do with the rest…

"Alright, fine." He sighed, throwing his arms in the air.

"I'll get a second opinion."

"Hey, don't act like that, I got you the cute French Doctor to look you over, instead of the creepy guy with the moustache, down in Vault 88."

"You have a creepy guy, with a moustache and you let him touch people?" Denis asked in disbelief, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"It was Naomi's idea." MacCready shrugged as he stepped away.

"Now go on, get!"

"Fine…" Denis sighed as he approached the Clinic, slipping his hands into the pockets of his duster as he went. He felt the Lamplighter's eyes as they remained stuck to his back, observing closely as he stepped inside.

As MacCready saw him enter, he found himself sighing with relief, he was finally free to inform Naomi about their new visitor and inform her of the threat that he likely imposes.

Denis stepped into the Clinic, with some degree of hesitation. Before him was a large, wooden kiosk with an attractive but rather dirty young woman in a pristine, white lab coat. She had blonde hair and dark eyes, her features were simple but pretty.

"Can I help you?" She asked, getting his attention, almost immediately. She didn't seem to have a French accent of any kind and she was seemingly not a proper doctor.

"Erm… I think? Mayor MacCready told me to see the Doctor? A French woman named Curie?" Denis asked, getting the Wasteland doctor to scoff and roll her eyes.

"Mayor? Did he tell you that? That boy is so full of shit…" She grumbled, under her breath, it had only just occurred to him that MacCready wasn't necessarily going to be mayor of this town… especially given that he wasn't even stationed here.

Maybe MacCready was right, maybe he **did** need a doctor.

"Go to the back room for Curie, though… watch yourself. She's odd, like she's from another planet… she's great but…" The woman paused, sighing heavily as she looked away.

"You'll see what I mean."

"I've dealt with all kinds of oddballs over the years, I'm… sure I can handle one Doctor." Denis shrugged, in truth, he'd dealt with some right psycho doctors over the years. One of which kept a glowing ghoul as a pet.

Denis stepped into the Doctor's Office and looked around, he didn't see her or any sign of her anywhere. Not that he knew what she was looking for, not until he heard a faint cough behind him, prompting him to turn around.

He immediately found himself face to face with a concerned looking young woman. She wasn't exactly remarkable in appearance, her hair was short; put into a bobcut and her skin colour was a healthy glow. She had a look that would allow her to fit in anywhere, due to her lack of remarkable features.

Her white labcoat made her stand out as it was pristine.

"Excuse me, misère, are you here to see me?" She asked, as MacCready suggested, she had a rather strong French accent.

"Erm… Yes, I am." Denis clarified, with a quick nod.

"MacCready suggested I get a check up."

"A… Oh…" She paused, scratching her arm.

"He sent you to me? This is… This is highly irregular." She admitted, looking around.

"If it's a problem, I could leave." Denis suggested.

"I didn't even want to come, I'm a Doctor myself and I can tell that I'm fine."

"What? No! It's… It's not a problem, per say but… I don't work here as a Doctor, I'm on leave." Curie admitted, looking a little flustered.

"I would never turn a patient away though, if you need me then…"

"How about a brief once over, hmm?" Denis asked, taking a seat on a comfy chair, that didn't look like small insects were going to crawl up his leg and lay eggs inside his pants as soon as he sat on it.

"Just to make MacCready happy…"

"Oh no, I insist on thoroughly examining my patients. I would not wish for one to leave here, with any form of risk to themselves or others. What if you brought that plague with you, on the road? What if you have parasites!" She paused, shaking her head.

"No, you should consider yourself quarantined, for your own safety until I've examined you."

"Okay, that should be fun." Denis shrugged, with a smirk.

"Never been 'quarantined' before."

This got an odd look from the Doctor as she froze on the spot, eyeing him up and down as she tried to figure him out. Failing that, she simply sighed and pulled up a stool.

"Your reaction suggests you do not know the meaning of the word, a quarantine."

"Doc, remember… I'm a Doctor as well. I'm just saying that this is a new experience to me, being held against my will by a Doctor, for my own sake… a rather attractive Doctor, might I add."

"I do not understand this, being held against your will by an attractive jailor is better for you than an unattractive one?" Curie asked, seeming more than a little confused.

"How do you reckon this?"

"You'd be surprised how many people 'reckon' that." Denis shrugged, leaning back and draping his arm over the back of the chair.

"Right… Let us get to it. You… Have any medical concerns that I should know about before I get to work?"

Denis chuckled a little, knowing fully well what the answer to that question was but he figured that it would be more fun letting the cute Doctor Lady find out for herself as she went in to examine him.

"Voyons donc." He shrugged, with a grin.

After half an hour of examining Denis, Curie stepped back and panted heavily, shaking her head in confusion as she turned around and ran her hands through her hair.

"So… Am I good to go?" He asked, somewhat indifferently, she seemed shocked but he couldn't really tell why.

"You… You have a piece of your brain missing!?" Curie asked.

"How!?"

"I told you." He shrugged, tapping the scar that jutted out from under his hairline.

"Crazy ferryman."

He lowered his hands and leant back in his chair, shrugging indifferently.

"It's fine though, Nadine said that I didn't need that piece and I agree, there's plenty more up here." The Regulator added, gently tapping his temple.

"But… It doesn't work that way, you must've lost something. P-Perhaps a function you aren't even aware is gone." Curie fretted, peering at it.

"It's fine! Honest, Doctor, I had it done ten years ago and haven't had so much as a headache since."

Curie stepped back, folding her arms and shaking her head in despair as Denis rose to his feet, a feat that she considered to be a miracle in all honesty. She found it difficult to look at him, after finding this out, however, she eventually did.

"What is your name?" She asked, suddenly realising that she didn't know. She was far to flustered to remember the basics, like asking a patient for their name.

"Denis Callaghan." The Lone Wanderer answered, plainly. He didn't want to confuse the situation further than he already had done as the poor woman didn't exactly deserve it. The way she acted was strange indeed, almost fascinatingly so…

It was like she was a robot, only understanding things in facts, numbers and figures. She struggled to fathom emotion and ideas such as 'law of averages.' Although, Denis often broke those laws, along with most other laws he didn't agree with.

"Well, Denis Callaghan, out of two hundred years of being a Doctor… You are by far the strangest patient, I've ever had." She admitted, rushing over to her desk and picking up a clipboard as she began jotting.

"Robert was right to send you over, you are in dire need of medical attention."

"All you found was a couple of rads and a fracture that's so insignificant, I didn't know that I had it." Denis protested, with a shrug, this is why he hated seeing other doctors. Though, then again, he wouldn't let anyone else but himself walk out of a Doctor's office in his condition.

"Several untreated gunshot wounds, burns, a laceration and a missing piece of brain aren't something that I pass off as 'trivial,' Mister Callaghan." Curie sighed, stepping around and opening up the drawers as she began collecting up her equipment.

"You aren't leaving until I've fixed you up entirely, so take a seat."

"Curie." Denis chuckled, shaking his hand, dismissively as he shook his head, with a warm smile as the Doctor approached.

"I'm fine, honestly… I think…" As he spoke, she jammed the needle into his arm, injecting him with a whole vial of med-x.

"Take a seat, I prefer it when I don't have to have my patients restrained." Curie stated as she drew another needle out, prompting Denis to nod, quickly.

"Yes ma'am."


	2. Heathens

Denis had been letting Curie tend to him for around ten minutes at this point. He admired her care and precision, the signs of a master craftsman, like himself or his Father. She knew exactly what to look for and where to go, it was almost like she was made for it.

By this point, guns were firing off, outside of the town's walls, occasionally getting Denis to look up.

"A necessity, I'm afraid." Curie admitted, with a sigh.

"Still, at least they can only come in one way, yes?"

"I dunno… Megaton had a layout like that, it just caused problems when an army of Slavers were in front of it." Denis pointed out, with a shrug.

"Still, the gun turrets should act as a deterrent of sorts for lesser threats…"

The guns continued to blaze, prompting Curie to shake her head as she continued to work on her patient.

"Mrgh, normally the fighting stops by now." She admitted, with a heavy sigh, getting up and going over to get some radaway. Denis couldn't help but listen out, he could swear that these 'raiders' were using energy weapons, which wasn't exactly common back home.

MacCready had said that they were more daring now, perhaps they were better stocked as well.

"You know that you had four hair line fractures in you, right?" Curie asked, breaking through his concentration. This got his attention, in truth, he was only aware of three.

"Huh, one less than last time I checked." Denis shrugged, mirthful as always.

"I've left worse untreated, like gunshot wounds and burns and whatnot. It's not like there's an autodoc on every street corner, y'know?" The Regulator explained as the Radaway was injected into him.

"You are very much like Naomi, impossible to convince." She sighed, pulling his sleeve down in a slight huff and walking back towards her desk.

"I've done everything I can for you now."

"Well, I do appreciate it." Denis admitted, with a sigh as he rose to his feet, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"How much do I owe?"

"Hmm? Nothing, I don't charge…" Curie said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Just look after yourself."

Denis shook his head and drew a pouch of caps from his pocket, placing it gently on the table.

"Here, buy yourself something at least…" He insisted, though Curie refused to even look at the offer.

"No… It's not necessary, please put it away…" As Denis listened, he heard some light footsteps, coming from outside, the sound was suspiciously quiet… almost like he was being crept up on.

His hand slowly wrapped around the hilt of his revolver, it slowly slithered out as he heard the light footprints approach. However, to his surprise and horror, what he saw was unexpected to say the least.

A skeletal-like machine appeared in the doorway, brandishing some sort of white laser rifle. It had a skull-like face plate and seemed to be grinning at him, it also had a number of metallic organs in its chest cavity and two strangely detailed eyes for a skeleton.

Denis grabbed Curie and pushed her forward, sending her down to the desk as the laser rifle fired into the room, thankfully the thing wasn't the most accurate weapon and the machine firing it was a terrible shot. Without further warning, Denis fired a .44 round into its head, blowing it wide open and sending it down to the floor, with a light thud.

The Lone Wanderer's hand was slowly removed from Curie's back as she came up for air, prompting her to quickly spin around as she saw the fallen machine, Denis was already examining it.

"I knew this wasn't a simple raider attack…" He muttered, picking up the laser rifle.

"Did you know they were going to be synths?"

"No." Curie insisted, crouching opposite him.

"No… Naomi runs the institute and she also owns this settlement, why would she send them after us?"

"Good question." Denis said, not sounding too convinced of her innocence. Still, they were too low on time to be pursuing this, when the town around them was being attacked from all angle by robotic skeletons.

"We'll find that out later, right now, we need to find MacCready." He insisted, passing Curie the rifle.

"You know how to use this?"

"Y-Yes." She said, somewhat hastily as she took it.

"You can use my revolver if you like…" Denis offered, he didn't exactly need it but Curie was quick to shake her head.

"No need, I can adapt to anything. I am far more effective with laser weapons, I have a much higher accuracy percentage with energy weapons and my combat data suggests that I am far superior at long range combat." Curie explained, getting Denis to raise a brow.

That was really just a fancy way of saying 'nah, I'll stick with this' and it was almost robotic in language.

It made him wonder…

He shook his head and stepped out as rumblings were audible from the distance and the sounds of gunshots and energy weapons were dangerously close to their current position. It sounded as if they were from immediately outside.

As Denis made his way to the end of the corridor, he found himself seeing the body of the receptionist, lay at the base of her wooden kiosk. He quickly broke cover and ran over to her, kneeling by her side.

"No, no, no…" He muttered, looking her over and seeing the scorch mark on her neck, it would seem that the skeletal robot from earlier had caught her off-guard and had shot her in the jugular vein. She stared up at him with a shocked, wide eyed expression, her desperate fight for her last breath left in memorial on her face.

Denis hung his head and ran his hand over her eyes before rising to his feet.

"I cannot believe they're killing our people so quickly! They must really be malfunctioning." Curie muttered, prompting Denis to look back to her.

"Whoever allowed this to happen, I swear to Christ, I will personally make them answer. I've seen this kind of irresponsible bullshit happen before, I will _not_ let this go unpunished."

The Regulator shivered a little, suppressing his anger before sighing heavily, looking back to Curie.

"How do we stop them? Where are they coming from?"

"They… Teleport, usually. We can't stop them, so much as we'll have to keep killing them, until they stop coming."

"Right, so that's what we'll do." Denis agreed, with a firm nod, over to the exit of the Town's hospital and shoving his boot against the base of the front door, forcing it open with one, heavy, rage fuelled stomp as he raised his rifle and fired off at the nearest synth he could find.

He managed to take half of its head off, sending it flying off, into the center of the street. He would normally have emptied his round into the street but he knew that a number of these people around him weren't synths.

Well, they could be, it was a bit of a bit of a grey area. Still, he only cared about these obvious synths, that're hostile at the moment.

A man in a laundered, white shirt was furiously ringing the bell, outside the house, next door to the Doctor's clinic. It seemed to be drawing everyone into that house and the house across the street, where Penaswela was blasting the synths away, with a sawed off shotgun.

The Lone Wanderer was quick to turn back to Curie, gesturing to the evac zone.

"Get going, I'm going to look for other survivors!" he warned, lifting up his magnum and firing off another round, into an appearing synth.

"No! Some of those you find might need my medical expertise! I will not abandon them!" Curie insisted, not wanting to hear any more of it as she stepped forward and several synths appeared at the base of a column of lightning that struck the farm, at the center of the settlement.

Denis was hesitant to let her come with him, however, he couldn't deny that he admired her dedication.

Curie lifted her laser pistol and blasted at the incoming synths, the ones she was aiming at didn't even make it off of the grass before they were sliced in two by the Doctor's blue lasers. She was rather slow, when it came to aiming but impressively accurate, bar the few misses that she managed.

Her efforts took out three of the seven attackers, prompting Denis to raise his revolver and hold the machines in his sites, however, to his surprise, he began to notice that the earth around him was shaking, something Curie didn't seem too bothered about.

A large, fifteen ft tall Lizard leapt from one side of the roof top to the other, jumping over Penaswela's head and pouncing onto the attacking synths, pinning three down, under its colossal frame and shattering the others with a coy slash before growling furiously, into the sky.

"Oh shit…" Denis grumbled, readying his revolver.

"Don't shoot her, she's on our side!" Curie insisted, grabbing his revolver and pointing it down.

"She's tame!"

The Vault Dweller paused, glancing over to her, with a look of confusion but he quickly nodded, trusting her judgement. You wouldn't normally vouch for a Deathclaw unless you were 100% sure that it was safe, right?

"It and the Gorillas are going to be able to hold them off, whilst we search."

"What the fuck is a Gorilla?" Denis asked, looking somewhat perplexed as he was pulled along, rather forcefully by Curie's harsh tug.

By this point, the two of them could see that a resident had emerged from the house at the far end of the street. It would seem that it was some sort of market, given what Denis could see from the cracks in the walls.

"It's safe, get moving! Get to the repair shop! Move!" Denis called to him, prompting the man to look around and gesture to his comrades. The Settlers rushed out, almost immediately after him, ducking and putting their hands over their heads as they went, trying to avoid wayward laser blasts.

However, to Denis' surprise, the all clear was quickly put into jeopardy as several synths appeared on the roof of the market, seemingly climbing over the walls and getting footing on the outside of the market place, which seemed to be protruding outside.

"Fuck…" Denis grumbled, readying his revolver and firing off, getting the fleeing shop keeps to shriek as they ran towards him, ducking to avoid the .44 rounds, just hoping that Denis hadn't gone crazy and decided that they would make good practice dummies.

One of the surviving synths leapt off of the roof and landed on top of one of the shop keepers, pinning her to the ground, with his spinderly, long, metallic fingers wrapping around her crown. Denis was quick to take this synth out, shooting it and blowing it away as he rushed over to the young woman's side.

She seemed to be in a summer dress of sorts, laundered, like the others. She looked quite clean for a settlement dweller, like a prewar housewife.

"C'mon Miss, get up!" He insisted, taking a grip of her shoulders and pulling her up to her feet, the woman's shoes scuffed against the floor but she was eventually upright.

"Okay, anyone else?"

"The machines went into that building over there, it's the second market place!" The Merchant informed him, gesturing over to it.

"I think they're in more danger than us, the machines swarmed the place! Penelope, Percy and Harold went in after them!"

"Okay, you get to that place, over there!" Denis insisted, getting a quick nod before the woman broke free, running over to the shack, without looking back. She was received by MacCready, who covered her entry.

"C'mon! The Robots are sturdy but they won't stand a chance, if they're overwhelmed!" Curie warned him, quickly breaking into a sprint and heading straight for the second market place. By this point, it became obvious that anyone left outside of the designated safe area was left to fend for themselves and though this suited Denis, he fretted over the dozens of people barely fending the machines off.

The two of them approached the front door of the settlement, pressing their backs against it as Curie listened out for thrusters. As they forced their way in, they quickly saw a dozen or so Synth corpses, along with a floating, pink Miss Handy.

"Parden the mess." Penelope said, hovering over to them both.

"We appear to be having a bit of an infestation."

"Heh… Roast a few more synths for me and you can make as much mess as you please." Denis shrugged, with a smirk as he stepped inside, looking around at the twelve or so dead synths on the ground.

"Where are the others?"

"They retreated to the back room." Penelope informed him, indifferently.

"I can provide them adequate protection."

"Be that as it may, the people of the town are converging at the General store. I think it would be safer if you made a break for it and head there."

Penelope shunted forward, which was the closest that she could do to a nod. She then went to the back room, to retrieve the terrified citizens.

"Now we need to help those at the boarder." Curie insisted, getting a nod from Denis, she knew the town better than he did.

As the two of them stepped out, they immediately noticed a fallen hybrid robot, with a Mr Handy's body and eye and two large clamps for hands.

"Oh Percy…" Curie sighed, shaking her head.

"Every time something attacks, we end up losing him."

"I'll fix him later, let's go and save the poor people who can't be fixed." Denis sighed, readying his rifle and making his descent, down the hillside and firing a shot of, taking out a far off synth.

"Between the robots and our perimeter guards, they should have created an effective blockade." Curie assured the Regulator but Denis wanted to see for himself.

There was a great difference between how things _should_ be and how they actually were.

Robotic voices could be heard around them, seemingly deeper than the previous ones, Curie instantly broke into another sprint and made a break for the other side of the garden. It was at this point that Denis saw why, some of the machines were more human looking now, with white panels that resembled faces and human torsos. Knowing what this meant for the people facing them, they were likely tougher and more intelligent than their skeletal predecessors.

Denis was quick to rush over to the back yard of the house on the far side of the street, just next to a rather run down looking shack. He sheltered in-between the wall and a concrete encased Water Purifier and readied his rifle.

He remembered the first time he encountered a synth, how quickly he was roped into the 'Railroad's' agenda. Not that he regretted helping Harkness but… didn't the Railroads fight for these things to be free? Somehow, he just didn't think it was worth the effort. Mind you, maybe he was just being incredibly small minded.

The Regulator took a deep breath and stepped around, firing off several shots as he went. The tougher machines turned back as they heard the shots, seeing that he was an easier target than those on the large barricades but this meant that they were as well.

The synths converged on him, firing off with their blue lasers and prompting Curie to slip out, from behind cover and start shooting, in the hopes of covering him. Though they were both landing a number of hits, the armour proved remarkably thick, not entirely resistant to bullets but… somewhat.

With every shot, more of the synth was exposed, though every time Denis tried to hit the exposed bit of mechanical torso, they deflected it with armour on various parts of the body or knocked his shot off par by firing at him.

Up on the barricade were some well armoured guards, with some pretty decent weapons, they did their best to keep up the support but it became obvious that they had little experience with situations like this, due to their safe position. The turrets usually destroyed anything that got too close, however, they had sadly all been disabled as the wire connecting them all had been cut.

It could easily be fixed, if Denis wasn't pinned down, behind a rusty, old Highwayman. Every shot made him nervous as he could feel himself somewhat exposed to the lasers. His mind began to race through possibilities. Too many machines for V.A.T.S, he didn't have any explosives and he couldn't chance being shot as he was out of stimpaks.

As he slowly looked up, a large, bulky and rather hairy, black beast appeared before him. It caused the Lone Wanderer to freeze as he saw it, wondering if it was really there or if it was a figment of his imagination. It looked like some sort of… well, human.

The large creature's exaggerated under bite was lifted as it looked to Denis with some form of disgust, banging both of its large knuckles on the ground. With a few deep monkey noises, the creatures bound towards him, prompting Denis to draw his revolver and flinch.

 _The fuck is this thing!?_ He thought to himself as he saw it leap over his head, roaring loudly as it threw itself into the fray. Denis was quick to turn around and saw it pounce one of the synths, causing the others to back away as they had to re-assess the situation. This gave Denis ample opportunity to use the V.A.T.S targeting system to take out three of them, with high percentage headshots.

He took the opportunity, without hesitation, watching their heads jerk back as they seized up and fell to the ground, announcing that they were dead, to anyone who cared.

The guards on the higher ledge fired down, hitting the remaining two in the back of the head and sending them sliding to the ground, where they stopped at the large ape's bloody knuckle, who looked down at the severed head in disgust before driving his fist down on it, putting a large dent in the fallen mannequin-like machine and finishing it off.

"Good… He's okay." Curie panted, with a faint smile as she stepped up, behind Denis.

"What the hell even is he?" Denis asked, somewhat confused, he'd seen apes before but nothing like this. Was he a chimp? Chimps didn't look like this in the drawings, they were a bit more… well, small and cute.

"He's a Gorilla." The Synth Doctor replied, getting Denis' attention.

"His name's Grudd… Naomi found him, wandering the wastes. He apparently escaped the Institute and so, she took him." Curie explained as Denis examined it carefully, wondering if it was a synth or if it was saved from before the war, like humanity was in the Vaults.

"Hmm… He makes an awesome pet." The Lone Wanderer agreed, examining him.

"A good guard… not so much a pet. They're quite difficult to control, even the synth ones. Still, they patrol and collect things, so… we're happy to have him around."

Denis was quick to nod, realising that he'd been caught up in this thing with the Gorilla and was wasting valuable time.

"Alright, you lot!" Denis called, realising that the Guards on the Barricade were already looking to them both.

"Head to the General store, we're holding out there!"

"Heh, MacCready send you?" A guard with quite prominent mutton chops and authoritarian shades asked, looking around at his comrades.

"Alright, we sent everyone else to the rally point, might as well head there ourselves." As the Guard spoke, a crack of Thunder erupted at said rallying point, prompting everyone to give it their immediate attention.

"Oh shit…" Denis grumbled, noticing the flashes of light, just up ahead.

Denis sprinted, towards the General Store, noticing that it was already surrounded. However, those surrounding it weren't the synths that he had previously encountered, instead, he could see three men in black duster coats, staring at the front of the Store, unflinching.

They might not have had the aesthetics of machines but the way they stood, that calculating, unflinching gaze… There was nothing human in them.

Denis reached for his magnum as he marched towards them, drawing it quickly as he did so. Curie was quick to run up behind him, trying to stay his hand.

"Denis, you know what they are, yes? They're Corsairs!"

"I don't care what they are, I want answers." Denis insisted, putting them into his sites and getting their immediate attention.

"Hey! Shitheads!" He called as they all slowly turned to face him.

"As much as I appreciate the 'I didn't get enough attention in high school' band to show up in their majesty, your fanfare put people in danger! It killed a Doctor, a good woman! So if you lot have come here for a purpose, you'd better spill it, whilst I still have enough compassion to lend you an ear!"

As he stopped, the temporal interference, brought on by the teleportation caused a light thunderstorm. The Commonwealth had a number of them, due to this but sadly, it didn't dissuade the Institute from using their technology and irradiating the population.

The Corsairs glared at Denis for a brief moment before turning their attention back to the General store.

"Followers of the False Mother must be exterminated, by the Order of the Father." The Corsair closest to Denis decreed.

"The fallen must be avenged!"

Denis on the other hand had heard enough of this prattle, he fired a .44 round into the side of its head, however, the Corsair was quick to duck down and roll out of the way before firing machine pistols at the front of the General Store, causing everyone who wasn't armed to scream and throw themselves to the floor as the others defended themselves, using crates and work benches, as well as bits of debris for cover.

Denis quickly broke ranks, seeing that they were likely running out of time before their clip ran dry. The Lone Wanderer charged in, firing another Magnum shot at the nearest Corsair and finally getting a view of his face.

He was a pretty generic looking Caucasian man, bald, with bland hazel eyes. He wondered if there was a human template for this man or if he was some sort of preset, assuming that these things had presets.

Either way, the man was quick to roll aside before lunging forward, with some sort of palm strike. Denis was quick to deflect it, despising hand-to-hand fighting as he never had the physical strength for it.

The Corsair then drew a long combat knife as he threw his machine pistol aside, lunging forward. That combat knife of his was known as a 'marine's best friend' before the war. Some Soldiers in the US army preferred them over fire arms and Denis knew that this guy was more than familiar with it. The way that this guy moved, it made him look like a shadow. He hadn't seen warriors this skilled since those Chinese stealth warriors in Alaska and those guys were simulations.

Denis wished he had a Chinese assault rifle, so he could just fill this prick full of lead and save himself a job, unfortunately, this wasn't an option, so he simply fired another shot off, this time mere inches away from the dark cloaked Synth.

The Synth winced as the bullet grazed his pelvis, causing him to stagger, Denis tried to fire off another shot but found that the Corsair had him in an arm lock, which resulted in some light cracking. He was about to bring his elbow down, to finish the job and cause it to bend in ways that made the Wanderer shudder to think of before several gunshots sounded off as Curie emptied her magazine.

Denis stumbled forward, giving the Synth Doctor an appreciative nod as he readied his revolver for round two.

The Corsair had a number of injuries but seemed to have a lot of pain tolerance or maybe his body was designed so that injury wasn't an issue to him, for all Denis knew, he didn't have organs but somehow he doubted it.

As the two of them readied to clash, another loud crash was heard and a large bolt of lightning spiralled down from the heavens and drove itself into the earth, exploding into a white light. Everyone was startled by it, then immediately blinded by its intensity.

At the center of the eruption was a lone, incredibly bulky figure, inhumanly so. As the light faded, the remnants of it still lingering around its place of previous reach, the figure appeared to be encased in X-series power armour, armour that Denis hadn't actually encountered before.

The armour was pure white, with the emblem depicting a man, resembling Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. The eyes also caught his attention, glowing red, like some sort of devil, casting an intense light down before the armour.

"M-Mother!?" A female Corsair gasped, prompting one of them to immediately fire upon the white armoured woman. Denis also took the distraction as an opportunity, drawing his gun and firing it at the Corsair previously attacking him. He managed to quite easily blow a large hole in its hip, sending him flying backwards and straight to the ground.

He landed, with a hard thud, on the ground, coming to a stop as blood leaked from the gaping wound. It was obvious that he wouldn't get up, no amount of training could allow you to shrug having your hip bone completely shattered.

Denis paid no mind to him as he stepped over, there was a doctor in town but the dumb son of a bitch murdered her. He supposed that he could be her last patient, in spite of her being death. The Regulator decided to focus on the conflicts in front of him, both of which had been brought to an end as the power armoured warrior had subdued her corsair already and had simply fired a few rounds into the back of the other.

The Wanderer simply drew his revolver and fired at the man's head, knocking it far back and sending him straight to the ground, in an unceremonious slump. The Woman in white simply watched him fall and despite her lack of a face, it seemed to be that seeing her own people fall had little effect on her.

Her large, bug-like eyes cast a red beam over her people, who cowered in the building before her, slowly rising to their feet again as they saw that their leader had returned for them. It was times like this that Denis found himself glad that he didn't depend on others. To him, it was almost sad to see people this way, stripped of all potential by a messianic figure.

Was this the effect that he had on the Wasteland, back home? God he hoped not…

"Naomi!" Curie gasped, stepping forward and interrupting Denis' trail of thought.

"Thank Goodness you're here! They… They came from nowhere!"

The Power Armoured woman peered around, the way that she looked at the devastation was more calculating than in shock or horror. Denis would be impressed but somehow, people who had such an eye for trouble tended to cause it, more than bring it to a halt.

"You don't live here, do you?" She asked, immediately addressing Denis as if Curie wasn't there. She slowly stepped over to the Lone Wanderer, towering over him. Denis just gazed up, through all of the hair and beard, two intelligent eyes, that showed age and wisdom beyond their years still managed to find prominence.

"No… I just arrived."

As he spoke, Naomi's lights in her eyes cut out, she disabled them and didn't seem as tense overall.

"Where did you come from?"

"It's a long story." Denis said, with a shrug.

"I started out in DC though, if that's a good enough answer. Though that was ten years ago now…"

"DC?" Naomi asked, seeming a bit puzzled by this notion.

"As in… Washington?"

"Mmhmm." Denis nodded, he was somewhat surprised that she'd heard of Washington DC out here, most people barely know beyond the region.

"It wasn't him, Naomi." MacCready informed her, stepping up and joining the conversation from behind.

"I knew this guy, from back home. You can take him at his word." He informed her, getting a suspicious glare from Curie.

"You must think highly of this man to vouch for him so quickly." She pointed out before turning back to him.

"Well, he did save three of my people from slavery." The former Merc shrugged.

"He was pretty eager to throw himself into the heart of the conflict, he saved a lot of lives and even took on three corsairs for a town that he had no association with." Curie agreed, looking almost pleadingly to Naomi.

The Sole Survivor seemed to be considering what they were saying before she eventually reached up and pulled at her helmet, lifting it off with some ease before dropping it to the floor. The Woman was a lot younger than he was expecting, in her thirties, like Denis and seemed to be of Asian origin, given her skin colour and some of her facial features.

She had her hair tied back, in a sort of bun, with chopsticks holding it in place. Even looking at her hair, one would struggle to avoid looking at the scars, which started in her hair line. Slashes, gouges, cuts, burns. Her entire face was full of them at this point, however, she was lucky, in the sense that only a few were too very prominent. In some lights, only three or four were noticeable, sadly the storm illuminated everything.

Despite this, she had quite an attractive face, adorned in a dark shade of purple lipstick and black eyeliner. She downplayed the makeup but it worked pretty well, in that sort of matriarchal sort of way.

"I never thought he was involved." She shrugged, turning her attention to the others.

"Though I honestly think he's connected."

"Connected?" Denis asked, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes, trying to think of possible reasons why. He'd done little but wander from one place to another for the past few months, he talked to a grand total of three people and that was basically it.

He hadn't encountered synths since DC and as far as he knew, that hadn't come to bite him in the ass as Zimmer believed Harkness to be dead.

"I'm not sure how but your arrival and these synths attacking… I don't believe in coincidences." She informed him, turning back to the others.

"One of the synths is still alive, subdue her and lock her in the bunker, at the back, I'll deal with her later."

"Doesn't she have a teleporter built into her?" MacCready asked, as Naomi pressed a button on her pipboy.

"I'll take care of that." She informed him, exploding on the spot, into a thunderous flash of light and vanishing, all within the blink of an eye.

The overwhelming light temporarily blinded Denis, Curie and MacCready, despite their instincts to shield them with their hands. Still, they managed to shake their heads and eventually turn their attentions back to each other.

"Well… Great…" MacCready sighed, looking the fallen Corsair over.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us."

"So much for a break…" Curie sighed, as she shook her head, folding her arms and shuffling back to the amassed townsfolk and leaving the two Capital Wastelanders to it. MacCready found himself wandering over to Denis' side, looking around, with a somewhat bemused smirk on his face.

"So… How're you liking Boston so far?" He asked, knowingly.

"Heh..." Denis began, shaking his head as he examined the devastation.

"I think I like it already…"


	3. Eclipse

**A/N: Just a head's up but there might be a few problems with the last two pages worth of stuff. I did it on my phone. The accessability is cool but autocorrect is a slight problem and formatting is a bitch.../**

She found herself in the pod again, slowly thawing out as her fingers became less brittle.

Kellog, that bald bastard, eyeing her husband and child, like prized animals. Knowing that it was fruitless, she fought against the restraints of cryo stasis. She gasped as she threw herself at the window, shaking her head furiously as she did what little was in her power to break free.

She watched, helplessly as Nate's brains were splattered inside the ice coffin that was supposed to begin his new life. Her Baby was ripped from his cold, dead hands and before she knew it, she found herself looking face to face with… _him_.

Naomi's eyes lazily opened, prompting her to sigh heavily as she awoke to the real world. A world of giant insects, scrap metal built shacks and radiation. A world in which every day was spent restoring life into a dead land.

She slept in her old bedroom, in a different bed. This one wasn't nearly as comfortable, given that it looked like a hospital bed but it was one of the best beds in the town at the time that it was built.

She insisted on sleeping in her own house, treating the house as her own as she always did. After all, she and Nate spent years, studying through college and fighting on the front lines (of a battlefield and in a courtroom respectively) to buy this house. She was the only person on this planet who truly owned any piece of land.

Sure, it felt a little selfish, keeping a whole house to herself at times but they weren't exactly short on space. They could build new bunk houses and those people, living in them, had the advantage of not having holes in the walls, that they had to patch up by stacking wardrobes against them.

Naomi was still in her disciples wraps, from last night. Though they exposed her midriff and had some horrendous gloves initially, she liked how light they were and how they didn't make it too stuffy, when the sun was out.

The jeans she wore were a bit tighter and let in a lot more heat but were quite comfortable, in comparison to the crap torn jeans that came with the original wraps. She decided to leave what she had on, not really feeling like getting changed today, after all, some of these settlers had worn the same clothes, every day for years and nobody complained to them.

After putting her rather bulky armour on, she managed to step outside her room and into her hallway. She often found it hard to motivate herself, this time of day, as if the weight of the situation that she was in was heaviest at this time of day.

It was nonsense, to her most of all but somehow she felt…

She would blame it on the house, however, she felt that way in the wastes as well. She often wanted to know 'why?' what cosmic intervention took place and why did it prioritise her over Nate? Was her family picked out of some sort of shit-bucket lottery or was there a plan for them? She had a goal and an idea but no purpose.

People didn't really matter to her, she felt bad for feeling this way but it was true. They all felt like robots, like synths, they all looked the same, spouted the same nonsense day in and out and acted the same and before she came along, they were too stupid to look after themselves.

She felt more like a farmer than a leader. More of a repairman than a hero or a nanny…

For the first time, since she faced the Brotherhood of Steel, she felt like she had purpose again. From what she had gathered, a sub cell had formed in the Institute, branding her as 'the false Mother' and had gotten to work, attacking her settlements.

She knew _why_ they were doing this, the last time her settlements were attacked, the consequences were severe. She couldn't stand any of it, innocent people being hurt for no reason, her authority being undermined and a year's worth of hard work being put in jeopardy for some bullshit operation, that had gone underway, behind her back.

Her relationship with her Son's organisation was changed forever that day and not necessarily for the better. The Institute feared her now, they didn't see her as a leader anymore but a threat, one that they couldn't remove with force. They worked to undermine her, she knew this but in the shadows, she knew that her town being attacked was merely a distraction.

She couldn't help but wonder what connection it had to Denis, a prominent figure in his own Wasteland, marching into her town? It seemed… off that such a thing could transpire through coincidence. Though she didn't believe that he was involved, not entirely anyway, she wondered if he was part of the plan in some way.

Perhaps he was being used…

She took a seat and picked up some coffee beans, she'd found them a few months back, on a crashed airplane, sealed in tiny packages that had protected them for years. She was unsure if the beans were whole or not or if they were drinkable but if a 200 year old Salisbury steak was edible, surely these coffee beans would be fine.

As she ripped the packet open, she paused to think on the man from the east… Denis Callaghan. The Capital Wasteland sure had a way to make its men, didn't it? Both of them were young, attractive and rugged, with coats on their backs that sported similar characteristics.

Still, between them, they'd managed to hold off an invasion, part of which involved Corsairs. This wasn't exactly something to turn one's nose up at. After all, synths were vicious, well-coordinated and Corsairs were almost as deadly as she was.

Denis must be a pretty skilled fighter himself, to take out so many of the synths.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a hurried knock at the door, she didn't even look.

"C'mon in!" She called, letting the ground up coffee beans fall into the white mug as the door creaked and swung open, with a dusty boot sweeping its way inside. Naomi was quick to look back, to see a bearded man, with rather short, shaggy hair stood before her. She almost didn't recognise him but eventually she saw through it.

"D-Denis, right?" She asked, getting an immediate nod.

"Yeah, that's right." He began as he took a seat in the arm chair, next to her.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked, eyeing the coffee.

"No, not at all… I was hoping to run into you actually." Naomi admitted, lifting her packet up and tossing it to one side as she grasped the cup and slowly lifted it, looking to him intently.

"You did save my town, after all."

"Heh… I didn't really, MacCready would've been fine without me but I'd be happy to take the credit for the few people I covered." The Wanderer said, modest as always. This got a rather, disarmingly, warm smile from Naomi as she sat back.

"Yes… MacCready, I understand that you and him have quite a history. You're probably the first person I've heard him speak highly of, who wasn't family or myself… I can see why."

"He's changed a lot, since I last met him… Hell, we both have. He doesn't swear anymore, for a start…"

"Heh, you knew him during those days, huh?" Naomi asked, with interest.

"What was he like?"

"Oh, y'know… Ten." Denis shrugged, with a chuckle.

"He apparently got himself the position of Mayor by punching a little girl in the face, you wouldn't think it now but there was once a hard core leader in him."

"Hmm… I should look out then, given that I am a little girl… of sorts." Naomi shrugged, somewhat bemused.

"The descriptions of him, from the old days… I find them so hard to believe…"

Denis nodded in agreement, for him, he must be having the reverse effect. He must've expected Robert to be an angry, foul mouthed Mayor and instead got the sweet, loyal guy she knew…

"Curie seems quite interested in you as well." Naomi added before quickly correcting herself.

"From a medical standpoint, I mean… She says that you have a number of medical abnormalities. Something about… a missing piece of brain?"

"Hmm? Oh, right! I used to keep it in a jar with me, actually but it's at home, with all of my stuff. Apparently, the kid who exiled me from my home town moved in there. Can you believe that? I know that they say that 'home is where the heart is' but the brain is the next best thing, surely." Denis sighed, quickly looking up as all forms of emotion was wiped from his face, he stared at her rather intently as he leant forward.

"With all due respect though… I didn't really come here to talk about this. I came to talk about what happened… with _your_ synths…"

Naomi paused, quickly morphing into a more formal, straightened position as she placed a hand on her knee.

"Erm… Very well…" She began, taking a deep breath and sighing.

"Surely you have noticed that those synths were made by the Institute and I… run the Institute." She paused, putting her cup down before lifting up her pipboy.

"In truth, I'm just as clueless as you are. All that I know, is that someone has set up a movement to undermine me, they call me the 'False Mother' and want me removed from the picture and that's about it really. The only thing that I can add is that they appear to have high clearance access, whoever it is has seized control of synth production and the teleporter and is building an army. They've been making synths every day for the past two years.

Hundreds of these things can be produced in a day and I don't even know where they are, where they go or what becomes of them. All that I know, is that he or she, behind this, is likely storing them…"

Denis began to think, deeply. This didn't sound good, not good at all… The potential amount of produced synths could conquer the entire East Coast, maybe the entire North.

"Can you take me to the institute?" Denis asked, getting a shake of her head.

"I'm afraid not. They have access to the teleports, they've banned any new users from being made, at this time and have been using dead member's users to teleport themselves. Every single one of those users has been taken as well." The Sole Survivor explained.

"Still, it's kind of good, it means that only a grand total of 100 synths can be teleported up at a time but the bad news is that any of those fallen 100 could be replaced, within seconds. It's a pain…" Naomi sighed, rubbing her face.

"I'm not going to lie… This whole thing is just… I'm kind of stretched thin and I could use your help, up here, on the surface." She explained, looking up to him.

"They'll attack, knowing that I'll have to choose between human lives and the investigation and I'll choose the former every time but if you are here to fend off invaders. I can actually make some progress, down below."

Denis nodded, though he wasn't going to agree to anything yet. He couldn't help but find himself suspicious of this whole thing…

"I have a friend here, who might be able to help." He offered.

"Madison Lee, she came here to join the Institute about… ten years ago now."

Naomi paused, stiffening a little but quickly played it off as if she looked like she was deep in thought.

"Madison… N-No… The name isn't familiar at all." She admitted, looking up to the Wanderer.

"Are you sure she made it here?"

"Heh… Are you kidding? She was a difficult woman, I'm sure she could order deathclaws around, if one tried to eat her." Denis admitted, with a faint chuckle.

"Still, she was like a mother to me, in a… weird way. I wanted to check in on her and make sure that she was okay."

"I… See…" Naomi was a little put out, if Denis was here to see her, then… That would mean that he wasn't aware of the fact that she defected to the Brotherhood of Steel, weeks before the Prydwen went down.

She and everyone else went up in flames, miles off of the ground and crashed at the heart of Boston's airport. How on earth would she tell this man, that she was responsible for her death? A man who had lost so much and showed such a strong sense of justice.

It felt wrong, not saying it immediately but he'd quickly connect her to the death, if she did and there's no evidence on the surface that Madison lived. She was only here for a short amount of time…

She needed Denis and perhaps this is what she could coax him with…

"I'll listen out for any sign of her. If I hear anything, I'll let you know."

Denis nodded, this seemed satisfactory to him, though he didn't need a reward of any kind, usually. Most believed that he was some sort of do-gooder and that was partially true, he mostly just had no material desires. He had everything he could buy and was perfectly content. So long as he had a weapon and a road to travel on, he was happier than a pig in shit.

"Thank you… I didn't really need you to but I do appreciate it." Denis informed her as he rose to his feet and gave her a respectful nod.

"I'll… Leave you to your coffee." The Regulator assured her, stepping around the tattered, makeshift sofa and towards the front door.

"Thank you again, Denis… For helping Sanctuary, it… It's uplifting to know that it has its defenders, even now."

Denis nodded, not really liking being thanked. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate it but he just didn't believe that good needed to be made a deal out of, it should be the norm, not an extraordinary feat. As he shut the door behind him, he noticed that a petite woman, in a white labcoat was stood before him. He instantly remembered her smooth, tanned skin and rather blank but still endearing expression.

"Hello again." She said, struggling not to miss the 'h' as she spoke.

"You seem to be doing well, after yesterday's ordeal." She commented as he stepped past her, seemingly quite focussed on something as he constantly shifted his gaze around.

"I wasn't injured yesterday, I told you, I'm a doctor…"

"You are but your methods are barbaric and as your current physician, I deem your previous physician unfit to diagnose you." Curie insisted, stepping up, closely, behind him.

"Wait, did you just call me a shitty doctor?" Denis asked, with an amused look on his face, it seemed obvious that he was finding her challenging him quite funny, especially given how direct she was being and how indignant she was, when he put his case forward.

"Yes." Curie began before pausing.

"I wouldn't use such coarse language but yes, you are a terrible doctor."

"Well, I saved several people, who were on the brink of death and could only be saved by a skilled surgeon." The Wanderer pointed out, with a shrug, not really seeing the problem.

"Yes but you clearly hate your current patient, you care nothing for their wellbeing and thus, this makes you unfit."

Denis looked to her and found himself cracking a small smile, he had to give it to her, her persistence was charming, if nothing else.

"You think you can do better? Perhaps... I could do with better…" He paused and eventually shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

"Alright, where's MacCready?"

"Robert? He's… in the Command center." Curie admitted, without hesitation as she gestured towards it. Without any acknowledgement, Denis made his way over, prompting the Doctor to follow, nervously beside him.

The 'Command Center' was the first house in the gated community, it looked like any other house on the block, except it had been fitted with a security desk and crates full of armour, weapons and supplies. The crates behind the desk were labelled 'Pack,' 'Operators' and 'Disciples' respectively. Sat at the desk was a man in full combat armour, he seemed to sport a moustache, with mutton chops and wore authoritative sunglasses.

"Hey, it's you again! You really outdid yerself, saving the town like that."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. But erm… Let's not make too big of a deal or else it'll go to my head. Now have you seen MacCready around?"

"Yeah, 'Cready is in the back but I'm afraid that only members of the security team can go back there." Muttonchops (as Denis had affectionately named him) informed him.

"Oh, well… I could use that space anyway, since what I want to talk about is private. I mean, MacCready, a member of the security force will be with me, so I can't get up to too much, right?"

"I dunno…" 'Muttonchops' muttered as he leant back.

"I could get in a lot of trouble."

"Well, the only alternative would be for you to tear MacCready away from his work and you could get in even more trouble." The Wanderer shrugged.

"Please, Sullivan." Curie pleaded, lightly but there was enough sincerity in her voice to sound genuine in her attempts to reach out to the Guard.

"I am willing to watch over him myself, with two of Naomi's inner circle watching over him, he wouldn't dare try anything."

'Sullivan' sighed and shook his head.

"Go on through then… but if anything happens, it's on _your_ head, lady!" He grunted, sitting back in his pipe chair and crossing his legs over, planting his feet on the table.

Denis mouthed the words 'thank you' before heading into the armoury. The Armoury in question used to be a Bathroom, back when this was a house. Which was stripped of everything and converted into the armoury, once this became a proper settlement.

MacCready seemed to be examining various melee weapons, a baseball bat with rocket thrusters strapped to it and a sword with a fusion battery glued on the side. They were crude but looked devastating in their own way.

"Damn, they were right, back home, the Commonwealth **_does_** get all of the nice toys." Denis observed as he looked them over.

"Heh, these are unique… Most jackasses in the commonwealth use basic pipe weapons." MacCready explained, getting a faint scoff from his fellow Capital Wastelander.

"Seriously? I didn't even know they were guns, the first time I saw them, I thought they were like… really shitty bongs or something." Denis admitted as he picked up a thruster enhanced aluminium baseball bat.

"Heh, you aren't the only one… Naomi doesn't allow **_anyone_** to use them in here, says they're less than useless. She scraps them and sells the .38 rounds to raise money for the town."

"Wait, she… loots her own people?" Denis asked, lowering the bat as MacCready shook his head.

"No, she wouldn't take it if they wanted to keep a hold of it but… Well, most of these people would give her the clothes off their backs to live in a place like this, parting with a cr… useless gun, only to receive a better one in exchange is more than a sweet deal."

"I guess…" Denis sighed, looking away as he leant against the wall.

"Look erm… I'm just going to be honest, I think your friend is a little too good to be true."

"Naomi?" The former Lamplighter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… I can see why you'd think that but just give her a few days and you'll see…"

"No, Robert she's… She's lying to me, I asked her about Doctor Li and she lied to my face. She said she never met the woman but…" He stopped to slowly pull a ripped envelope from his coat pocket.

"That's not what I've been told… She sent me this letter, two years ago, as a member of the Institute. She had a synth track me down and give it to me, so she wasn't just some… pea body, she was a high ranking member of the Institute.

She _was_ until your friend showed up… Then she defected."

MacCready was busy, skimming through the letter, he found himself growing concerned.

 _"Denis_

 _I know that my words may not be welcome right now, however, I also know that you always had an understanding of the bigger picture. You're still out there, your tales reached me from far and wide, from Point Lookout to the Big Easy and I **know** you're out there._

 _As you may have guessed, I found the Institute, their methods of keeping themselves hidden weren't enough against an actual scientist, like myself. I've been living here for ten years now, however, I was approached by a woman named 'Naomi' from the Brotherhood of Steel, who showed me some disturbing things._

 _The Institute isn't what it seems, one of my colleagues became a monster, falling victim to his own creations and I had to find out, through an outsider, what became of him. I now fight alongside the very people I came here to escape, the Brotherhood of Steel and they want me to fix up that Goddamn robot._

 _What they don't understand, what they fail to admit is that Liberty Prime didn't win us the war with the Enclave, it was you. You have plenty of reason to hate the Brotherhood and just as much to hate me, I have had a number of years to take into considerations the ramifications of my hasty departure and if I could've waited until you woke up, then I would have._

 _This isn't the time for idle thoughts of changing the past but to insist that you help us change the future. Like your Father, your dedication to the cause gave us a victory that we had no right to hope for and I believe that you can do it again. The Brotherhood and I need your help, we're not asking for your trust or your forgiveness and we are aware of how little of a right we have, asking but I fear that this war will end badly, without you._

 _Naomi is possibly playing both sides, everyone assures me that she isn't but I seriously have my doubts. She has family in the Institute and I believe they're offering her a place among them, if she turns on us, the only one who could hope to stand against her is you._

 _God's speed Callaghan, I hope this letter finds its way to you before it's too late…_

 _Dr Madison Li._

MacCready lowered the paper, falling silent, he wasn't quite aware that Denis had family aboard the ship.

"Man, I'm sorry but… I think she went down with the ship…" The ex-Mercenary murmured, passing him the letter back.

"Either that or she fled the commonwealth but I don't want to get your hopes up."

"No, she didn't." The Regulator agreed.

"But why didn't Naomi tell me that? Why'd she pretend she hadn't seen her before?"

"Maybe it was a timing thing? I dunno, how do you just tell someone… _that?_ " MacCready asked, though he didn't sound entirely convinced.

"Maybe she just doesn't trust you or…" He paused, sighing heavily, he couldn't defend this, not even from the angle of 'she had good intentions' as she most likely didn't.

"I don't know… I can asked her, if you like?"

"I'm not sure if I like this, going behind her back, like this…" Curie admitted, getting MacCready's attention.

"She might not look upon it so favourably."

"It's not going behind her back, Curie. I'm just going to ask her to level with me and see what she says."

"But your motives aren't going to be 'on the level' as you call it." The Doctor protested.

"Curie, please… If she's lying about something like this, she might be in trouble. She could be targeting me even or someone else could, I have to know." The Lone Wanderer insisted, stepping up to her.

"I learned a long time ago that blindingly trusting someone, no matter who they are, is a terrible idea. Especially when they're potentially going off the deep end…"

"You're… Concerned for her mental health?" Curie asked, quickly nodding.

"I see… Then I will allow this, on the condition that you run such things by me. If she was paranoid, people talking and plotting behind her back would only exacerbate her condition."

Denis nodded in agreement as this seemed more than reasonable. In truth, he didn't really need to deceive Naomi more than once as this would reveal everything. He watched as Robert left the stock room behind, making a quick gesture to Denis to follow him. The Wanderer didn't take offense, given the fact that he was stood in the armoury, possibly the best stocked armoury in the Commonwealth.

He followed the former Lamplighter out, trying not to catch the eye of the guy at the desk, who looked quite uneasy as he saw them all pass. MacCready eventually stepped outside, looking up to the sky and going into a sort of trance.

"Do you ever sort of… Wish, that things were simpler? Like… They used to be?" MacCready asked, to which Denis knew what he meant. It's always simple when a problem starts but when you actually had to govern the place that you've just saved or live in it, things just stop being so sunshine and rainbows and become… well, real.

"Heh… If things were simple again, I'd be in my house in Megaton right now." Denis admitted, with a sigh.

"Mind you, the Enclave would still exist, so…."

"Yeah but that's my point, I miss the days when the Institute were the bad guys or the Brotherhood. I miss there _being_ a bad guy, now it's just… Well, it's our own people, like Lamplight all over again. Back then, Lamplight was fun, I used to love being in charge of everything, imposing my authority but… that was then.

Now I just want to live my life…"

Denis nodded, seeing what he meant.

"I was honestly considering bringing Duncan up here, y'know? Where he would've been safe…

But after yesterday, I'm not so sure…"

"I think Naomi would do everything in her power to protect him." Denis assured him, after all, she was loyal to her friends, from the looks of things.

"I mean… Not to scare you or anything but I don't think he's safe anywhere, not in this world. But hey, there are worse places to grow up than a walled off community, with gun turrets and friendly deathclaws, right?"

"Heh… He'd love the Deathclaws…" MacCready agreed, observing the far off chameleon Deathclaw as it marched through the main street.

"He had a dinosaur phase…

To live in a place with real dinosaurs, it'd be a dream come true for him." MacCready trailed off before sighing and furiously shaking his head, turning back to the Wanderer, with a new sense of urgency.

"Sorry, I'll… Talk to Naomi now." He assured him, realising that he had trailed off. He paced away as he always did, head hanging as he went.

"Robert seemed so happy before all of this." Curie said, seeming quite saddened as she watched him leave, her attentions now turned on the outsider.

"I hope this doesn't change that…"

Denis nodded in agreement but in truth, he knew that this was likely going to change everything. This fragile little eco system was about to come crashing down…

Naomi had been tuning up her power armour, ensuring that it was operating at full capacity. She never liked the idea of it having 98% anything, in case the Brotherhood came back or more synths invaded her territory.

Both of which were real possibilities.

MacCready approached her from behind, she knew it was him, due to his shadow resembling the way that he slowly paced. It reminded her of those old western movies that she watched, with her Dad, where the lone ranger guy would walk away, at the end of the movie.

"Look, I... I talked to Denis and... He knows about Madison Li." MacCready admitted, gently scratching his head.

"He had a letter from her, sent before she died."

Naomi paused, hanging her head and scowling a little as she rose to her feet, eyeing up to the Power Armoured face plate before her.

"Shit..." She muttered in frustration, dropping her spanner to the floor.

"Yeah..." MacCready agreed, glancing down to the big white boot.

"What were you thinking, Naomi!? I wouldn't believe you'd resort to this, if you hadn't told me yourself!

I don't understand, how you can do this to someone, after everything that you went with, with Shaun!

All this guy is trying to do is find his Mother!"

Naomi gave him a somewhat cold look, blinking a few times.

"What's going on? Y'know that you can talk to me... Right?" MacCready sighed, seeming a little saddened, he trusted her judgement and motives but this just seemed so unlike her.

Naomi was quick to begin her search for anyone who could be eaves dropping.

"Come with me." She said, it sounded like an order, to which MacCready was quick to jump to, knowing that he still had duties to uphold, despite his previous convictions.

Naomi entered the ruins of her house.

She once expected to see Nate and Shaun around, with Codsworth flying in to maintain their comfort and happiness.

MacCready knew her past and wondered how she survived like this. A cryo case, awoken long after her world was destroyed...

No family left, no foreseeable future…

How she carried on was beyond him…

He liked to think that it was him, Curie and most of all Hancock, who kept her around.

"I'm..." Naomi began, with a shudder.

"I think I'm in over my head, with this whole Institute thing. I don't know who is behind this, what they're doing or why but..." She sighed, turning her attentions to MacCready as she leant on the remains of a counter top.

"I made a mistake... I shouldn't have joined the Institute and...

Now I'm paying for it." She admitted, she found herself shuddering as she glanced down to the ground, scuffing her boot along it. It was kind of difficult to speak about such things, in such a way, with someone who knew her as a leader of sorts.

"My Son, Shaun…

He still owns it, he still commands it, from beyond the grave and put me in as a figurehead. I make no decisions, I get no input and nobody even informs me as to what the hell is going on!

I don't even know if these rogue synths are part of the Institute, if someone is staging a coup or if this is some sort of Railroad Remnant plot!

Hell, at this point, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if all three had teamed up to fuck me over at this point."

"To be fair…" MacCready interjected, though even then he sounded hesitant to interrupt, given his place in all of this.

"You aren't exactly straight up front with us… With Denis… Me… Any of us. Why didn't you just tell us that you're having issues with the Institute?"

"Because, Robert, you know as well as I do that Piper and Nick and Hancock don't _trust_ the Institute and this would send them over the edge! They're all so uneasy around me at the moment and that's them believing that I'm in control of the Institute. If they found out that I wasn't, we'd be back to two years ago!"

"Maybe we should be." MacCready shrugged.

"Maybe we should take the fight to the Institute, use your inside knowledge to our advantage."

"N-No… We can't." Naomi murmured, seeming incredibly sure of that as if it was a definite fact but she didn't seem to want to explain why.

"Look… I'm sorry for not being straight up and honest, with you or… him. I'm just… I just don't want to make any enemies right now and telling a guy, who you barely know, that you killed his mother is… well, it's a great way to start such a relationship.

I'll apologise to him, next chance I get and… hopefully, we can start over."

MacCready nodded, at least she was quick to admit that she had done wrong here, it would seem that his work was done. He looked away before heading to the front door, deciding that he wouldn't trouble Naomi any further, it sounded like she had enough to contend with.

"Robert?" Naomi asked, getting his attention and prompting him to turn around, rather quickly.

"Please don't tell anyone about this… not yet, okay?

I'd just… Prefer it if I could have some time to figure the situation out before everyone knows about it."

"Course." MacCready nodded, in truth, it wasn't anyone else's business anyway…

"It'll be okay… If we could beat the Brotherhood, we can beat these guys, right?"

Naomi nodded, though in truth, she didn't know. This felt somewhat different to the Brotherhood, they weren't as strong or as powerful as the Institute.

She had a personal stake in the Institute, her family and friends also did… The idea that the place could be destroyed, along with all of the knowledge and data within…

It scared her, the very thought that she was on her own up here, finding herself forced to try and build a shadow of the old world. She wanted something better than the Institute, something better than the surface…

But this hybrid was at risk, it was put at risk by the Institute and at this point, her only hope was that it was still achievable.

"Mother Naomi?" A monotone voice asked, behind her, getting her attention, rather quickly and seeing an African American man, standing in her hallway.

She flinched as she saw him, not expecting him to appear out of nowhere, like this but didn't let it get to her.

"I believe I've found a trail."

She nodded, rather quickly, turning back to the door.

"Thank you, X6-88… I'll… Finish up on my power armour, to deflect suspicion and then I'll come down and meet you."

The Synth nodded before disappearing in an intense flash of light, by this point, the Sole Survivor didn't even flinch at the overwhelming light.

The wonders of the Institute had long since become mundane…


	4. Interloper

It had been a quiet day, both in comparison to yesterday and in general in Sanctuary Hills. The warm, July sunset air set a pleasant atmosphere for everyone in the area, not only did it give them a warmth, throughout the night but it also created a pleasant view as the sky went a fiery red or orange.

Denis was at the café or bar or whatever it was supposed to be. It used to be a house before the war but now it was a fully functioning watering hole. There were several rooms, some quite open and public and others of a private nature. MacCready had gotten them the bathroom in the first room on the left as you went into the hallway.

The fact that it was walled off made it somewhat prostegious, even if half of it was tiled and clearly a shower. They tried to cover the floor with a fancy rug but it just looked awkward and wrong…

He could see the golden rays, cast down by the sun and it kept him distracted, away from Curie. It wasn't so much that he had anything against Curie… quite the opposite in fact. He just felt as if his mind constantly turned on Madison, on what happened back at Noami's house.

In truth, he was pretty pissed…

He was hoping to see if MacCready was telling the truth about her, not wanting to shoot her dead and steal the hope of this and many other settlements in the process. Apparently, Naomi had built a cast trade network, connecting these settlements like a web and making it so that the North was completely safe to explore, unarmed, without fear of running into any note worth resistance.

There was a triangle, inbetween three of the first established settlements, where virtually nothing bad could happen to you. Caravans in that area were safer than West Coast travellers, living under the NCR.

Of course, normally, something like this came with a price and that price was never paid by those who benefitted from it.

It always came from an innocent…

"You seem very quiet today…" Curie observed, remembering their session together in her office and how he never stopped. She observed a number of attempts to keep her engaged, amused and she could've sworn that he tried flirting with her.

Yet, here he was, just so silent… He lacked focus of any kind as he dove deep inside his own head, looking for answers. She could see that what little he had been told of Madison Li's death was taxing and that being here wasn't helping.

"I erm…" Denis began, breaking eye contact with the ceiling and sitting upright as he brought his hands together, leaning forward.

"I've just had a very long and hard day…" He admitted, with a heavy sigh, hanging his head as MacCready stepped in.

"Okay, got everything." He assured them, taking a seat and putting the three beer bottles down on the table, carefully as possible, to avoid knocking them over.

"Damn robot broke a bottle, put too much pressure on it and it shattered…" He grumbled, taking a seat and snatching a bottle. Denis couldn't help but scoff a little, at least they weren't trying to cut sponge cake with a saw blade.

"So… Do you think you'll be staying? Without Madison here?" The former Mercenary asked, noticing that he had long since gone into a trance. His concentration couldn't be matched by his vacancy, though then again, they were often one and the same.

"I'll erm… Think about it." The Wanderer admitted, falling silent. In truth, Madison being dead hurt him considerably, it took so long to find her and now his chance for a reunion had been taken. The Brotherhood was destroyed, along with those he knew, back at the Citadel and all was right in the world.

It was what was starting to frustrate him, what saddened him. A woman who dedicated her entire life to bringing clean water to the world died and the world's response was 'good.' He wondered what world he was in, what little sense he could make out of it, he found insulting.

He had heard wonderful things about the Prydwen, a marvel of engineering, capable of housing an entire citadel worth of Brotherhood soldiers. It wasn't just a base, like the Pentagon or a weapon like Liberty Prime, it was a war machine.

In truth, the idea of it was somewhat terrifying to him but equally, he had no desire to see it and everyone in it destroyed. The Brotherhood meant well, in their own way, they dedicated hours to helping the Wasteland's people as Madison did.

He somewhat wished that he could've been here, to stop the fighting, to make sure that not everyone died in the process. Perhaps the Institute could co-exist, perhaps someone could've brokered peace.

Perhaps he was kidding himself…

In truth, he would've destroyed the Institute, it sounded closed minded as he knew nothing about them but he had heard nothing but bad things. People being replaced with synths, those killer robots and it was still going on, even with Naomi at its head. He wondered if she was two faced or if she was a figurehead of some sort, either way, he found her despicable, willing to lie to him and promise him that she'd find him a dead woman.

He wondered if he'd be doing the Commonwealth a favour if he'd put a .44 round in her head but he was hesitant to do so. MacCready looked up to her, Curie did… good people often did. Were they just brain washed or was she truly worth of their praise?

"I… Erm… Yeah." Denis murmured, realising that Robert had asked him a question, about forty seconds ago and he hadn't given a satisfactory reply. MacCready paused and went back to his drink, he might as well be a hollow echo to Denis right now.

"I'm sorry for what you've lost, I know you can so far to find her and…" Curie began, getting a saddened stare from the Lone Wanderer, which caused her to stop.

"Yeah, we get you… I think we've both lost people close to us, out here." MacCready assured him.

"I lost my wife to Ferals… Curie lost her erm… Partner to Vault Tec…" He explained, getting Denis' full attention, his hand trembled slightly as he glanced down to the floor.

"I'm sorry that you lost her… Being young and razing a son, can't be easy, especially after seeing that." Curie didn't like to speak during times like these as she never knew what to say and she figured that nothing was better than the wrong thing.

"We've just got to keep in mind what family we have left and keep 'em close and do better for them." MacCready insisted, sitting up.

 _What family I have left…_ Denis thought to himself as he leant forward, bringing his hands together. What family did he have left? The Vault exiled him, his Dad died at Jefferson, his Mother died on the operating table, Li was in the Prydwen, Hardin exiled him, Sarah Lyons and Owen Lyons were gone and he'd spent the last ten years, wandering aimlessly.

Family was no longer a luxury he had, as much as he longed for it.

"Yeah…" The Regulator sighed, taking a swig of drink before wincing. He somehow wasn't in the mood for any of this.

"I erm… I'm sorry but I think I just want to go to sleep, right now." He admitted, looking back to MacCready.

"Erm… Sure but where did you sleep last night? You weren't in the common rooms or…"

"I was in the pines." Denis shrugged as he stepped out, not wanting to admit that he slept in a bed roll, on the outskirts of town.

"See you tomorrow!" He said, with some forced cheer as he slipped out, hoping to avoid any more questioning or interruptions. He passed the crowded common room on the other side of the hallway and out into the less packed entrance, which looked considerably nicer to him than the back room but the true party goers must hang out back there, even though you can't even get in the door.

He stepped through, slipping his hands into his pockets as he hung his head, thoughts swimming around his brain, like small fish around a lump of bread. He hoped to keep his head up high as he wandered through the streets, enjoying it for what it was but he sadly struggled right now, he struggled not to turn his attention to the inoffensive ground and satisfy his nagging doubts as they continued to tear his mind to shreds.

He wandered past Naomi's residence, seeing that the lights were on inside, illuminating the two flamingo guardians outside her front door. He kind of liked them, a strange, decorative ornament that one wouldn't see these days.

As he kept his focus on the house, he found himself distracted by movement, just up ahead. He furrowed his brow and quickly snatched his revolver from his hip, keeping his hand on it and focussing ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that there was a slight flicker of shadow as something moved past his gaze, he quickly turned to face it and readied his gun. Whatever this was, it was hunting him, possibly taunting him.

His eyes were trained on whatever it was, tracking its last movements… In all honesty, he hoped that it would leave him alone, that it was skulking around him, just watching him for now but rarely was it the case that he was so lucky…

He continued to walk onward, doing his best to look like he wasn't aware that he was being watched or followed. He knew that it was going to take quite a bit of diligence to beat a Corsair in a fight as the one that he fought yesterday was one of the most impressive combatants he'd seen. It made him wonder if he was getting rusty or if he was just weak in comparison to them, if Commonwealth threats were greater than anything that he was used to.

Perhaps taking one of these guys on, single handed, wasn't the greatest of ideas. Especially if it was an attempt on his life, there could be two or three or even ten of them and then he'd be outnumbered and outdone.

He heard some scrapings, down in the passage way to the left, inbetween Naomi's place and the place next door. He had considered going to her house but part of him found himself questioning as to whether or not Naomi was behind all of this to begin with. Where's the one place that they wouldn't want him to be, a spot where he couldn't be reached?

He paused, seeing the dark passageway, to the left, the passageway, where the female coursair was dragged away, a few days ago. It seemed dangerous, locking himself in with a prisoner but equally, it was likely going to be impossible to survive, out in the open like this. Deciding that he trusted the prisoner more than Naomi, he made a sharp turn to the left and vanishing into the darkness.

There were multiple clicks and gear coming from the padlock, which held the basement doors shut. The rustic nature of the lock made it incredibly frustrating to deal with as Denis found himself cursing to himself, multiple times as he seemingly cracked it open.

"C'mon, **_Open_** you rustic piece of…" He was interrupted by a faint click, prompting him to rip the padlock off and throw it to one side as he slid down, into the basement. The doors carefully closed on top of him, as he pulled them shut, resulting in the faintest of sounds as the two metallic doors collided.

The Lone Wanderer stepped back, readying his revolver and spinning the cylinder before pulling the hammer back, he was ready for this thing, no matter what it was. He hadn't met a being that he couldn't kill and for all of this thing's prestige, it wasn't going to impress him this day.

"Who… Who are you?" A feminine voice asked, prompting him to turn back, rather quickly.

"You remember me, right? I put you in here." The Wanderer explained, backing up against the nearest corner and trying to find something that he could use as a makeshift trap. Much to his frustration, there wasn't anything of use, like a mine or even something that could be used as a tripwire…

"I… Wh-Where is this place? What am I doing here!?" The Corsair asked, she seemed genuinely distressed, however, Denis didn't exactly have time for it.

"Your friends have come to kill me and retrieve you…" He grumbled, throwing some things aside before looking to the terminal and noticing that it had some logs saved already. They were listed in date order and three had been made in the last two days.

The Wanderer quickly swatted at the one closest to his arrival, scanning through it.

 _"Still finding it difficult that we caught a Corsair! Normally their memories are wiped, the moment they're captured, via killswitch but this girl's still her emotionless, bitchy, killing machine self. Right now she's practically docile, even if she has told me how she plans to kill me, six or seven times now. She only speaks when spoken to and refuses to cooperate on any level, it's like she has PDA or something!_

 _-Sturges"_

Denis sighed and went for the middle one, constantly checking on the door, at least it couldn't be opened without it making a noise. However, he didn't want to leave that to chance…

 _"Dammit! I came down this morning and she's reset! She has no idea who she is or why she's here and she just keeps asking me a bunch of questions! I'm so confused right now, I'm not sure if this is a trick or if she's genuinely suffering from amnesia. Either way, I'm keeping her tied up down here. Naomi said that she doesn't want to risk anything, while that Wastelander's here._

 _Dunno why she's making such a fuss, looks like any old wastelander to me but she and MacCready think he's special for some reason. I'd say that they respect him but… I think they're more afraid than anything. Naomi avoids him, like plague and MacCready speaks highly of the guy but even I can tell that he's worried._

 _I hope Naomi doesn't leave this Corsair down here for too long, people might hear her…"_

Denis paused, doing his best not to react to anything that he read, he sighed and went onto the third one.

 _"Zoe, as she calls herself, isn't as panicked as she once was. However, I'm not sure if she's struggling, because she's a synth or if she's got some sort of malfunction but when Naomi came down here, she got very freaked out. She gave Naomi the silent treatment for a while and then gave her one word answers._

 _She talks to me, just fine but anyone new down here, she refuses to look them in the face. I'd say she's being difficult but I dunno, I'm not sure she can help it. She barely looks me in the face and this morning she barely said a word._

 _Hope we can deal with this soon, instead of worrying about this whole 'Denis' thing…"_

Denis backed away before turning around, seeing that Zoe was staring back at him. She had a fixed lock on him, refusing to address anything else in the room as their eyes locked.

"Zoe? Do you actually remember me?" Denis asked, slowly stepping forward, prompting the synth to recoil. It wasn't so much that she looked afraid but she was more agitated as she didn't have a clue what Denis was about to do.

"Yes, you spoke to me a few minutes ago." She pointed out, blankly, it almost seemed defiant in its approach.

"I don't remember you knocking me out though, I don't remember anything."

The Wanderer sighed, of course she'd say that… The question was, _why_ did she say that? Was she genuinely lost or was she playing him?

Mrgh… He missed Super Mutants and Enclave Troopers, they were never smart enough to lie.

"Look, I haven't got the patience for mind games so… If I untie you, would you attack me?" The Wanderer questioned, Zoe simply stared at him before looking away.

"I wouldn't attack you for untying me, no…"

"Okay but would you attack me for following 'the false mother' or some shit or other?" The Regulator added, getting an indifferent shrug.

"I don't even know what you're referring to… Is the false mother your mother or mine? She sounds like a religious figure…" She paused, shifting on the spot.

"Wh-Who's he!?" Zoe asked, getting the Regulator to turn around, with his revolver drawn, only to find himself face to face with a dark skinned man in a black Corsair's coat, his eyes were obscured by shades.

His arm was grabbed and squeezed, with one hand before the other hand snatched his wrist and twisted it, resulting in a crack, that made the Wanderer tremble on the spot as he feared that such pain would make him pass out.

He thankfully overcame it and threw a punch, into the Machine's right cheek, hitting him across the face as his revolver hit the floor.

X6-88 reached up for Denis' throat and grasped at it, taking a tight squeeze as he knocked his head back, keeping the pressure up as he kicked his legs from under him, causing him to slip to the ground. To Denis' surprise, the Corsair kept up the pressure as he dragged his opponent down to the ground, continuing to strangle the life out of him.

"I was informed that you would be a much more challenging threat to neutralize… I suppose, even the greatest tales can be exaggerated."

"F-Fuck… Y'You!" Denis choked, thrusting a knife into X6-88's right shoulder, causing him to snap out in pain as he fell back, instantly nursing the wound, with the hand that he had just attempted to kill Denis with.

The Regulator lay, choking on the ground as he tried to fight the violent coughing fit that was overwhelming him. He was far from safe and he needed to get back on his feet before he blacked out or even died.

"Untie me and I'll help you." Zoe said, with little to no urgency, getting Denis to glance up. He supposed that her being free could only improve his chances as it's not like he could be any more fucked than he currently was. Sure, two Corsairs fighting him were worse than one but he couldn't even take this one on, alone.

This was the ultimate test for a God that he didn't believe in. Was he the kind of asshole who would make Zoe another murderer or would he get this one chance to actually gain a powerful ally, who would save him.

He definitely hoped for the latter…

He thrust his knife forward and sliced through the ankle bindings before lifting his hand up, firmly on his knee. Zoe seemed to squirm to his touch or perhaps it was the fact that his whole body weight was going on her knee… or maybe it was because he had her knee cap in a tight grip. Either way, it was like she was desperate to throw him off, thrashing a little in her seat.

Denis was sawing through her cable ties, he was using a shitty switchblade, that he kept for emergencies. It wasn't even his backup weapon but it was the only one that he could hold in his now damaged hand.

His attention looked up to X6-88, who had already scrambled to his feet, tossing the knife away, after pulling it out. By this point, Zoe's cable tidies had snapped, allowing her to stand but she still remained strapped to the chair, by her ankles.

Denis slipped the knife into her hand, slowly pacing around her back.

"You think that our Corsair will turn on us? It seems Naomi over estimated your intellect…" X6-88 scoffed, seeing her cut through the tie and move onto the other one.

"Z0-33, recall code indigo!" This caused Zoe to shift, twitching furiously.

"That's cheating, asshole!" Denis spat, drawing a small pistol from his pocket and raising it, shooting most of his clip at X6-88.

"Awaiting instruction." Z0-33 informed them, however, her senior Corsair was too busy rolling out of the way of the gunfire to notice. He leapt forward, a readying a machine pistol as he aimed it at Denis' head.

Denis, however, had managed to save a bullet, he fired upward, hitting X6-88 in the chest and causing him to stumble backwards, holding it as he trembled.

It was then that Zoe broke free and threw herself at the stumbling Corsair, sticking him, beneath the ribs, with her switchblade. He cried out in pain, even his lack of emotion couldn't prevent him from reacting to a potentially mortal blow, like this one.

Zoe went for him a second time, however, rather than risk taking on a corsair and an experienced traveller, he decided to abort the mission, teleporting himself away from the assailants and dispersing into thin air.

Denis staggered away, panting heavily as he regained his composure, Zoe grabbed her chair and passed it over to the Regulator, given that he looked like one of his lungs would collapse if he remained standing.

"Th-Thanks…" He panted, taking a seat.

"Not sure if I'm getting old… soft or if these things are tougher than anyone else." The Wanderer admitted, with a sigh.

"Who are you?" Zoe asked, resulting in him sighing heavily as he remembered the only reason that she hadn't attacked him yet.

"Denis Callaghan, I'm… new here, you could say. I'm a bit like you."

"In what way?" Zoe asked, curiously, stepping in front of Denis and peering down at him.

"I haven't the faintest fucking idea what's going on either…" He explained, now doubling over as he got his breath back.

"It would seem that you are getting old." Zoe observed, getting Denis to stop and take one definitive breath before glancing up to her, with an expression that gave away his mental response to that.

"I read the terminal entry, I see you've been… you for some time." He said, getting a confused look from her.

"Of course I'm me, I cannot be anyone else." She pointed out, somewhat indifferently. She stepped back as Denis rose to his feet, stumbling towards the entrance to the bunker.

"No, you were someone else a few days ago. Now you're Zoe but before you were Z0-33." Denis explained, pausing and shaking his head in despair as he noticed.

"A pretty gauche serial number assignment, by the guy who put you together, I gotta admit."

"Z0-33?" Zoe asked, somewhat confused.

"You speak of me as if I were some sort of robot."

Denis paused, narrowing his eyes, she had her memories erased to the point that she didn't know what she was, never mind who.

"I have a lot to tell you but I'd rather not do it here, once we're away from this suburb, then I'll explain everything to you." Denis assured her, retrieving his revolver and reloading it.

"Until then, we're keeping our heads down and we're walking out of here."

Zoe paused, finding herself nodding to Denis' offer, it seemed agreeable."

"Very well, I will refrain from asking questions until you deem it appropriate." She said, turning her attentions to the door.

"Thanks…" Denis sighed, hobbling towards said door as he snapped his revolver shut.

"We might need to fight to get out of here. I know you have no reason to trust me but know that I'm the one fighting for your freedom. The others want you to be detained in here, they may even kill you."

"You speak as if you're one of them." The Android pointed out, seeming somewhat concerned.

"Sort of… I just got here but I have connections with them, I've only just found out what they are." Denis whispered, slowly lifting the large door up and peering out. The warm summer night air was a little stifling but aside from that there wasn't anything that would threaten them out here.

"Right… Coast is clear. We're going over the wall, so stay close!" Denis whispered, lifting said door up and slipping out, holding it up for Zoe to follow.

"I didn't intend to leave your side." Zoe pointed out as if she felt somewhat accused of trying to do so.

"Good. Anyone on the streets would run you in, I'm not taking chances." The Wanderer sighed, letting the metallic door fall shut before shining his torch on the wall. He'd heard talk of the early days, where this was made of scrap metal and wood and how some bits were propped up with furniture. One piece of it _was_ furniture, a wardrobe, resting between two pieces of nailed down dry wood.

Thankfully, those days were long gone the walls were knocked down to make way for some concrete blocks. They weren't pretty but nothing could get through them…

A lookout tower was stationed behind one of them, this didn't seem to bother anyone as the walls were designed to keep people out, rather than keep them in. Anyone was able to run up the lookout tower's stairs and jump over its 3ft high ridge on top and presto, they were free.

It was somewhat of an oversight, given that it was literally adjacent to the Bunker that they were holding Zoe in, one that they would likely fix, after someone used it to escape.

The Regulator made his ascent, skipping the stairs two at a time before leaping over the small ridge and dropping down on the far side of the wall, swiftly turning back to make sure that Zoey had followed. She had already stepped up before dropping down on the floor, on the right side of the wall.

"Right… That's the easy part, now to slip away unnoticed." Denis murmured, looking back.

"We'll fall back, into the woods and make our way around the ridge. Naomi owns settlements along the road, they'd see us."

Zoe nodded, rubbing her arm as she went, the Corsair coat was somewhat bulky and it made her stand out, not to mention that it was incredibly warm, given the heat.

"Naomi is the Asian matriarch, right?" She asked, looking for clarification, to which Denis gave a vocal piece of acknowledgement, with a nod to confirm her suspicions. However, he was hoping to focus more on the path ahead. He knew that doing this was starting a war with Noami and unlike Ashur or Hamilton or any of the other monsters he'd faced before one thing made this war definitively different.

This was Naomi's land, these were Naomi's people and so, being Naomi's enemy made him an enemy of the people.

Denis wasn't just risking war with Naomi, he was risking war with the entire Commonwealth.

Naomi sat on her Sofa, back straight, hands resting on her lap as she composed herself, awaiting X6-88's return. She was resting in the Director's quarters, deep inside the Institute, overlooking the villa bellow.

It used to be Shaun's Office but she was unfortunate enough to inherit it, two years ago. She was one of many mothers unfortunate enough to outlive their children, a possibility that was abominable to think of and yet it was the reality she faced.

There was so little activity down below, it felt unsettling. There should be families in here, safe from the toxic world above. This place was better than a Vault and yet only a few big brained fat cats were able to benefit from it.

 _"Mankind, redefined…"_ What nonsense, this was the same old elitist shit that had always existed in the world. The elites just wore labcoats, instead of business suits down here.

A flash of light lit up the Atrium as X6-88 appeared, falling to his knees. To Naomi's detriment, he returned alone… A disappointment but not a surprise.

She waited patiently for him to visit her, so that she could debrief him. Though it felt more of a formality at this point, given that she knew that he'd failed…

"Director!" He gasped, stepping into the room.

"Report." She demanded, gently rubbing her face.

"Callaghan and ZO-33 managed to overpower me, they have likely fled into the wilderness." X6-88 said, emotionlessly.

"I thought this would happen…" Naomi sighed, turning back around.

"If Denis is as smart as I think he is, he'll avoid the roads. Still, we should go to the settlements and inform them of their description. McDonagh needs to be informed, as do Hancock and any others outside of Minutemen Jurisdiction."

"You may wish to evaluate Hancock, though you two are intimate, he is a man of principle. His mind is primitive and is likely not compatible with the Institute's goals." The Synth advised, prompting Naomi to look down, swallowing the desire to say something insulting back, after he insulted her boyfriend.

"What if we find him?" X6-88 asked, not knowing what grounds Denis was on at this point and how he should be dealt with.

"Denis is… Suspicious of me but he's not doing anything wrong. I think he should be detained if possible, killing him is out of the question. I wronged him once, I can't do it again…" Naomi sighed, turning her attentions back to the window.

"MacCready is adamant that Denis is a good man… I believe him, he reminds me of Preston, of MacCready and a little more than I care to admit of Hancock. I want to prove to Denis that I'm not what I think he is."

"Your sentiment may put the Institute in Jeopardy, I cannot allow that." X6-88 pointed out, prompting her to glance over to him, giving him an icy stare.

"Sentiment? This has _nothing_ to do with Sentiment. You don't get it, because you're Institute and this is something that the Institute will _never_ understand but Denis and I are the kind of people, you hate to admit exist. We're thrown into this world with a Vault Suit and a 10mm pistol and somehow we become kings.

Denis would make a far better ally than he would a corpse and God knows that we could use more of those. I tried trusting this Institute, I _tried_ giving you some faith, against my gut instinct, the thing that got me in that Director's chair and you people just shattered what little confidence that I had.

So if we're going to do this, we're doing it _my_ way. The way that made the northern Commonwealth safe to explore, without a weapon! The way that re-instated the Minutemen and saved the Commonwealth from the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Your methods also resulted in thousands of synths going off the grid." X6-88 pointed out, emotionlessly, getting Naomi to stiffen, closing her eyes to stifle it and exhaling loudly to calm herself.

"That'll be all, X6-88…"

This prompted the Corsair to bow before walking away as he left Naomi behind, she rose to her feet and stepped on over to the window, staring down on the Atrium bellow.

The Institute was making synths on a minutely basis, every minute, a new one was formed and sent off to be assigned a purpose and yet, since she'd been appointed director, new synths vanished, without a trace as soon as they were built.

She couldn't stop production, it required access codes that she didn't have and that she wasn't able to get. Any form of tracking equipment didn't work, once they went into processing and her options seemed to dwindle, with each passing day.

This wasn't just an oversight, it couldn't be. Whoever was doing this was keeping the Synths away from her for a reason…

Whoever it was was building an army.


	5. Rebellion

Out in the dark, with little more than the flickering embers of the campfire to keep them warm and safe from the darkness of the Commonwealth's night. Just outside of Naomi's safezone, Denis deemed them safe here…

For a few hours at least.

Zoe stared into the fire, processing what little Denis was able to tell her. She was a technological abomination, a synthetic human, designed to kill.

Honestly, the implications of it were… fascinating.

The only one she knew, who didn't want to detain her was Denis. An odd man in every sense of the word. Oddly dressed, in his duster coat and scraggly brown hair and rough beard and oddly mannered, treating the entire world, like a childish curiosity.

It was… odd, having nothing. No memories or desires. A blank slate, facing a world, without meaning. The thought of it was most unsettling to her, the idea of being able to kill but not having a reason to, it opened up many possibilities but none of them sounded like good, long term prospects. Hired killers seldom survived long enough to retire and those who did were haunted by what they did. Whether it was regret, fear or some tangible threat that still hunted them. Perhaps it was worth seeing everything this world had to offer before making such a decision.

After some time, her Regulator companion stirred, blinking rapidly as he slowly tried to sit up, taking in gulps of air. He seemed dazed by the fact that he was here, like he'd been ripped from another place.

"This isn't…" Denis murmured, rolling onto his side and propping himself up with his elbow.

"This isn't the Pitt…"

"The Pitt?" Zoe asked, looking around.

"It's… not that bad, surely."

"N-No… I… was remembering my time there, in Pittsburg. A city… of slavery and death." He yawned, sitting upright and stretching.

"Hated that place. I was glad to help it but it's not the kind of place you want to stick around."

"Is that… Pittsburg place in the commonwealth?"

"Hmm?" Denis shook his head, looking into his revolver as he unloaded the cylinder.

"No, far off… Far south, I mean. It's closer to DC."

"Dee Cee? Is that…?"

"Erm… I'd need a map to show you, what I'm talking about. But erm… Basically, the land we're on is split up into states. The 'United States' they were once called but now they're erm…

Well… Just land.

I went to quite a few of 'em, whilst travelling… West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Louisianna, Georgia… Probably a couple of others, that I failed to keep count of, over the years."

"Where were you heading?" Zoe asked, finding herself intrigued, crossing her legs together and placing her hands on her knees.

"Nowhere… Everywhere…" Denis shrugged.

"I didn't have a destination in mind."

It occurred to her, at that point, that her companion had the opposite problem to her. Too many memories, too strong a connection to the world, a connection that he couldn't escape from. In truth, she wondered which was the greater hell… It was like two extreme temperatures to her.

"Down to my last few shots." Denis sighed, leaning back as he snapped his revolver shut.

"Wish that arms merchant, back at Sanctuary stocked more .44 rounds." He'd made a visit as soon as he could, in case he had to shoot his way out. It was always a fair assumption that you would have to.

He thankfully was wrong…

"I wish I had a weapon at all, it would be far more efficient." Zoey pointed out, with a shrug, glancing back up to Denis.

"Do you have any other weapons, besides your revolver?"

"I have Butch's 'toothpick.'" Denis pointed out, drawing the switchblade, he used to free her before. In the light, she could see that it had the insignia of a snake on it. Green and rather venomous looking.

"I also had my combat knife 'Occam's Razor' but it got stuck in that asshole, who jumped us." Denis sighed, putting the blade back in his coat pocket.

"It's shit really, I've had that knife for a decade…"

 _Sentiment…_ Zoe found herself picking up on that, the concept was somewhat alien to her as she'd never had to care about anything in her entire life.

"You seem to have a lot of remnants of your past, hanging around your person." Zoe observed, tilting her head as she tried to spot some more.

"Heh… Used to have so much stuff, I had to keep it in my house." Denis admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"I hope Harden took care of it."

At that point, Denis froze as he heard rustling in the bushes. He grabbed his revolver and quickly turned around, finger wrapped around the trigger as he observed the shapes emerging.

"Woah, easy! It's us!" MacReady hissed, hands slightly raised as Currie followed out behind him.

"We followed you from Sanctuary."

"We came alone, for now." Currie admitted, getting Robert to wince, looking more than a little annoyed that she gave that away.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd have filled you full of holes but… I know how things have been between you and Naomi and… Well, why have you done this?

What're you doing with… with her?"

Zoe just stared at the two, remaining silent and indifferent.

"She had no memory of who she was, when I took her. That and she saved me from that Corsair that tried to have me bumped off." Denis said, taking a seat back at the fire pit.

"Other Corsair? Just the one?" Currie probed, finding herself intrigued. Why send one to do the job that five had failed to do?

"Erm… Yeah, black dude? Dark glasses? Sounded dead inside." Denis nodded, rubbing his neck.

"Wait, 88!? He came after you?" MacReady was agog here, given that this meant only one thing. If X6-88 went after Denis, the order came from Naomi herself as 88 was her personal bodyguard and go-to guy inside the Insititute.

He personally hated the guy but he did have a way of getting things done, that few others could achieve. Not to mention that he was the only member of Naomi's inner circle, allowed inside the Institute.

Perhaps that wasn't for the best… perhaps he was the one planting these thoughts into her head or exacerbating them.

Or maybe she just wasn't who he thought she was…

"If 88 is after you, then you aren't safe here. You need to come with us."

"I'm not going back to Naomi." Denis said, shaking his head.

"I don't expect you to, I'm taking you to Goodneighbor." MacReady insisted, prompting Currie to look over to him, looking more than a little flustered.

"What of Naomi?

Shouldn't she know of this? I mean…"

"She… Will know, eventually but Denis isn't safe out here and Naomi isn't safe in her current state. She's cracking, Currie. You've seen it, I've seen it. The only thing we can do is take Denis to Hancock and try to figure out what's going on."

"Hancock?" Denis interjected, not having a clue who that was.

"Oh erm… Naomi's boyfriend." Robert added, quickly shaking his head to dismiss Denis' next point.

"It sounds crazy but Naomi wouldn't send 88 anywhere near him. He'd likely step in and get hurt and if he knew what Naomi was doing, he wouldn't stand for it.

He's… Quite anti institute, especially the bull… shenanigans they used to pull."

"Ah… That's… Kinda clever actually." Denis nodded in agreement, folding his arms, with a faint smirk.

"Looks like I was a good influence on you, you've clearly picked up some planning skills from me."

"Tragically, I got some fashion tips from you as well." MacReady shrugged, which was somewhat true, his outfit was somewhat reminiscent of the Wanderer's.

"We should depart sooner, rather than later." Currie insisted, looking back east.

"We have a long way before we reach Goodneighbor and the longer we wait…"

"You're right." MacReady assured her, turning his attentions back to the approach.

"Pack up, we need to move as soon as we can."

Denis nodded and grabbed the few thing's he'd removed from his coat as Zoe kicked some dirt over the fire. With a satisfying sizzle, the world had returned to sleep and the four travellers were engulfed in darkness.

* * *

After a night of travelling, sneaking past the terrors of the Commonwealth's most brutal of beasts, the four travellers finally reached the gates of Goodneighbour.

Immediately, Denis found that his guard was up… This place just felt so, seedy to him.

Perhaps it was the dumpster fire aesthetic of the place that made him uneasy or maybe even the empty jet casings that he found himself constantly kicking with his tattered boots. Either way, the place gave him a feeling of unease.

It looked like the kind of place that would keep him busy for months, assuming that he was allowed to shoot assholes in the street. If not, he'd probably have to use a silenced weapon and hunt them for sport.

As they reached the front gate, Denis noticed the corpse of a Super Mutant, curled up on the floor, beside them. He found himself freezing at the sight of it.

"What… How is…" He paused and knelt down beside it, examining its remains.

"How're you even here?"

"Oh, I…" MacReady interjected, stepping up, behind the Wanderer.

"I should've filled you in. This place has Super Mutants as well… They're greener and a little smarter, Institute made 'em."

This only got an irritable sigh out of Denis, wondering why on earth someone would want to make such a creature. Taking a human life and turning it into this… travesty of scientific creation just made him sick to his stomach.

Another thing he'll have to bring up, with the institute.

"We mustn't delay! The security of the town is compromised with the gate open!" Currie fretted, prompting MacReady to sigh as he followed the two synths through the gate.

"Sorry Currie, just our… friend hasn't seen a Super Mutant before."

"You don't seem all that bothered by it, Zoe." Denis pointed out, prompting her to look it over, from afar, with disinterest.

"I know _of_ them, though I'm not sure why…" She commented, wondering if it was something to do with the Institute's programming of her synth brain. Maybe they gave her a comprehensive list of everything she had to look out for.

Amnesia seldom affected these things, since they were tied to a different part of the brain. Things like personality, for example.

Though it was difficult to label it as Amnesia as Amnesia wasn't so much memories being deleted by an external source as it was memories simply being locked away or damaged.

Diagnosing synths was a lot tougher than most realised…

Through the gate, Denis saw a rather charming display of a true vision of post apocalyptic design, combined with the charm of old world architecture. It brought a small smile to his face as he saw the Assaultron, running a store in front of him, selling guns and the old ghoul lady running a café or something to the far right.

Between the gate and the shops was a charming little courtyard, which acted as a sort of alcove, created by the old world building next to them and the makeshift gates out front.

"Well, lookie here!" Mumbled an old timer, barely making words out of the few teeth he had left.

"We got us some first timers in Goodneighbour."

"Not exactly." MacReady shrugged, gesturing back.

"Currie was born here… Technically speaking."

"Wha? Oh I… I'm Sheldon, I'm erm… I'm the town greeter!" Sheldon informed them, holding up his gloved hand and shakily offering it to them.

"I greet guests and show 'em around or tell 'em about stuff."

"You're the town drunk, who extorts customers at the door? Nice…" Robert sighed, shaking his head.

"Here, get yourself some addictol." Denis sighed, dropping the elderly man some caps.

"Seriously, you'll feel a lot better and you can do something with your life."

"Like what? I'm sixty two!" The Geriatric greeter scoffed, not too ashamed to take the caps though as he made his way down to the third rail.

"Thanks for your generosity, fellas!"

"Erm… Wasn't the greeter supposed to offer us directions and hospitality?" Currie asked, finding herself puzzled as she watched him waddle off, down the street, prompting MacReady to smirk and chuckle faintly to himself.

"I don't think he could find his butt with both hands, Currie." MacReady sighed, shaking his head with a grin.

Immediately a figure in a red frock coat, let off a raspy cackle as he stepped out of the entrance to the old building to their left.

"I didn't think anyone would be dumb enough to fall for Sheldon's racket but… Looks like he found himself a whale." Hancock grinned, stopping just short of the group.

"That's good, real nice and neighbourly… Normally he's runnin' off, with a black eye or a busted nose."

"Well, he'll still have one, one he gets so shit faced, he walks into a pole." Denis shrugged, getting a smirk from the ghoul.

"Yeah, well… it ain't as bad, when you're drunk." Hancock said, bearing his rotten teeth, with a grin.

"Now, the last thing I expected this morning was Robert and Currie, together, walking into my town… What happened, you two get hitched and come here for a honeymoon?"

"Erm… Not exactly." MacReady sighed, glancing around.

"It's not really safe to talk about it out here but… it's about Naomi."

"Naomi? What'd she do now?" Hancock asked, keeping up a smile for appearances sake but showing signs of falter in it. He looked more than a little concerned.

"Inside… We can talk there, where there's no eavesdroppers." Denis sighed, stepping up to the door that Hancock left from and looked back.

"I'm sorry for dropping this on you."

"Just… Get me to my room." Hancock sighed, glancing away.

"I'm gonna need to break open the daytripper for this shit, ain't I?"

* * *

"So…" Hancock sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"What exactly are you saying here? Because… It sounds like you're accusing my girl of some pretty heavy shit."

"I'm not honestly accusing her of anything. In truth, if she's in charge, then it sounds as if her authority is being challenged, that there's some sort of civil dispute building up down there." Denis warned, sitting upright.

"If that's the case, she might not be able to let us help her. She might have to actively work against us as they may have leverage on her, maybe it's you they're using, I don't know."

"We wouldn't put this on you but being so close to her, you're likely going to be dragged in." MacCready pointed out, eyeing some broken needles on the table.

"We figured you'd understand, given that you're… close."

"I never did like the Institute." Hancock pointed out.

"I tolerate that shit, because Naomi had it under control but if it's gonna be how it used to be? Then my town has to come first."

"R-Right and that's what we need, people with the resources necessary to take Naomi on or rather, her version of the institute." Denis interjected.

"You'll need a teleportation device to go too and thro the institute." Zoe interjected, sat on a desk at the back.

"Wait, doesn't Naomi still have the old equipment set up?" MacCready pointed out, sitting upright and looking back around.

"If it still exists, its connection to the institute would have been severed the second that it was used. We'd need an insider to hack into it, like Sturges or the railroad."

"Right and they're either dead or working with Naomi…" MacReady sighed, slouching back in his chair as he realised this had taken him back to square one.

"Hmm… Teleportation…" Denis observed, glancing down to the table.

"I wonder if…"

"If…?" Hancock asked, growing impatient with the cryptic bullshit.

"I have a… facility, it's hard to explain but it was also capable of teleportation. The only thing is that I need a radio signal that can reach it." The Lone Wanderer explained, bringing up his pipboy.

"It's erm… In space."

"As in… 'Outer?'" Robert asked, agape.

"You sure this guy's not just… completely fuckin' insane?" Hancock asked.

"Because it's starting to look…"

"I didn't say he wasn't but trust me, he's done good by me… by all of us." The former Lamplighter protested, though Denis wanted to dispute that, he didn't exactly have the time.

"If you have a radio station, I could probably send its signal upwards, to the satellite." He said, not wanting to call it a 'Morthership' as that might just get him sectioned or thrown out.

"We… Have a station in town, ran by a crazy old guy, who likes some Super Hero show. Maybe you could rig his up to space."

Denis considered it, realising that it would be doable but hardly a breeze as the old coot was probably using an old transistor, from a crashed B17 and was powering it up with a hamster in a wheel.

Still, it would seem that it was their only potential way to reach the Mothership, he just hoped that the group members hadn't all abandoned the place or… worse.

"Well, if you're gonna be poking around here, you'll need to make some effort to hide. I'd dress like rabble in a radstag scrap outfit and maybe poke a few holes in your wrists, to fit in." Hancock advised, his face failed to give away how close he was to joking about the whole drug addict cover.

"Hmm, I'll whip something up." Denis pointed out, with an indifferent shrug.

"Thanks for holding me up, Hancock… I know that I don't exactly inspire confidence, given the situation with Naomi but…"

"I'm not exactly blind, when it comes to her. I know that things have been gettin' outta hand, ever since that whole thing with Danse." The Ghoul admitted, with a shrug, sighing heavily as he leant back.

"Just don't make me regret this."

* * *

Naomi traversed the crime scene, trying to make heads or tails of what went down. Unfortunately, it was as X6-88 reported, that Denis immediately went to spring a captive combatant and fled with her, into the woods.

He claimed that MacReady and Curie weren't here and yet they're gone as well. Most likely pursuing him. It was odd that they didn't raise the alarm before doing so but perhaps they didn't get chance. Afterall, Denis was a dangerous man to pursue alone, even if you're a well trained merc, like Robert.

She found herself curious about his motivation for doing so. Was it revenge, for killing Madison Li? Or was it something more? Possibly the result of a relationship of mistrust, built up from all that had happened.

"Ma'am?" X6-88 said, stepping in behind her.

"I've traced him to Goodneighbour. I can have him killed, within 24 hours."

"No." Naomi said, firmly.

"No killing. Not until I know what's going on here. His motivations could be just, for all I know and I won't risk doing more harm by resorting to covert tactics, unnecessarily."

"He has fled the area, with a rogue synth. A corsair, none-the-less. Eliminating the threat would be prudent."

"This is why I don't make decisions based on what _you_ think." Naomi pointed out, though she quickly realised that it was somewhat uncalled for.

"I'm… Sorry, that was undeserved."

"Emotional slights cannot hurt me, Ma'am." X6-88 said, folding his arms as he looked incredibly indifferent to what had just been thrown his way.

"You're still worthy of respect, being a valuable agent."

"What would you have me do?" X6-88 asked, cutting through her affection, as if disarming it.

"Observe?"

"You need not do anything. I'm going to get him." Naomi sighed, turning back around and heading out of the basement.

"It's about time I talked to him, one on one."


End file.
